PRETORIA, 28 October 2025– Riah Phiyega, South Africa’s first female national police commissioner, has defended her role in the controversial restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS) a decade ago. Speaking publicly for the first time since leaving the post, she rejected claims that dismissals during her tenure were mishandled or politically motivated.
The debate resurfaced during Parliament’s ad hoc committee hearings into corruption within the SAPS. Former Police Minister Bheki Cele accused Phiyega of “dismantling” the police service, while former Deputy Commissioner Dr Leah Shibambo claimed she was fired without warning and became a casualty of internal corruption.
Phiyega, now CEO of the Safer South Africa Foundation, said she understood Shibambo’s feelings but firmly dismissed what she called “alternative facts and lies.” She insisted that decisions were made under parliamentary pressure to streamline the SAPS, which she described as “top-heavy” with six deputy national commissioners.
“The restructure was not a decision made lightly,” Phiyega said. “It began before my appointment and involved consultation with the national management forum, of which Dr Shibambo was a member.” She added that she introduced a “new way of doing things within the police” by consulting everyone affected by the shake-up.
However, in 2014 the Labour Court found that some dismissals had been conducted without proper consultation under the Labour Relations Act and ordered suspensions. Phiyega refuted these findings, citing Section 18(89) of the Act, which she said allows employers to negotiate restructuring matters with employees. She added that she had informed the court of her intention to continue consultations.
Phiyega also claimed that Shibambo had declined an alternative position offered to her, as head of the SAPS Education Trust, suggesting that the dismissal narrative was more complex than publicly reported.
The former commissioner’s comments reignite debate over her legacy, highlighting the lasting impact of her leadership and the ongoing scrutiny of the SAPS’s internal reforms.
