Deeds and omissions at the highest level add to the horror of Marikana
Zuma tolerates prosecutors sitting on criminal cases against senior officers, while Ramaphosa spins his role
As we move towards the fifth anniversary of the Marikana massacre on August 16, it is timely to recall the actions and inactivity of our president and deputy present regarding the ghastly killings. In early December 2016, President Jacob Zuma received the report of the Claassen board of inquiry into allegations of misconduct against then national police commissioner Riah Phiyega. The report, which was leaked, was forthright in its conclusions. It gave three reasons why she should be removed from office, including her failure to halt the "tactical option" that led to the deaths. Eight months later, Zuma has still not made the report public. Instead, Phiyega was allowed in June to drift off into the sunset of retirement on full pay. There is at least one possible motive for the president’s lethargy. Claassen concluded that Phiyega had amended a media statement to conceal scene 2, where, according to the Farlam commission’s evidence leaders, there was a "paramilitary operation" aimed a...
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