A court battle looms between the police and Premier Helen Zille’s commission of inquiry into police inefficiency in Khayelitsha.
|||Cape Town - A court battle looms between the police and Premier Helen Zille’s commission of inquiry into police inefficiency in Khayelitsha.
On Monday, at the first sitting of the hearing, retired Constitutional Court Judge Kate O’Regan, who is co-heading the commission with former National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, said the state attorney had advised them that the police were considering challenging the establishment of the commission because the required process of intergovernmental consultations had not been properly completed.
In a letter dated October 26, the state attorney requested that the commission suspend its proceedings. The commission responded saying that it had to report by February 24 and would not be able to suspend its proceedings as this would make it impossible to complete its report.
“The commission of course has no knowledge of the intergovernmental processes relating to its establishment and in the meantime will proceed on the basis that its establishment and mandate are lawful,” O’Reagan said.
On Monday, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s spokesman Zweli Mnisi said discussions with Zille were taking place, but Mthethwa was “considering various options”.
Mthethwa had previously asked Zille to suspend the commission, proposing that police conduct their own investigation into the alleged inefficiency of the Khayelitsha police and the breakdown in relations between residents and police.
Joel Bregman of the Social Justice Coalition said the police were using delaying tactics by challenging the validity of the commission at the 11th hour. “The police were ignoring the process for months, we hope the court will dismiss their application,” Bregman said.
lynnette.johns@inl.co.za
Cape Argus