Phiyega - just the right woman for the job

The one thing we know for sure about Mangwashi Victoria "Riah" Phiyega, is that she will fail in her role as our National Police Commissioner. We know this because of all the things we do well in South Africa, we are best at predicting failure. It allows us to immunise ourselves against disappointment and, on the odd occasion when we are proved wrong, we get to be pleasantly surprised.

The main reason cited by commentators, crime specialists and armchair critics for her imminent failure is the fact that she has no policing experience. In their minds this, coupled with the fact that her ne'er-do-well predecessors Jackie Selebi and Bheki Cele also had no policing experience, make her a failure waiting to happen.

Other than the fact that she is about to screw up spectacularly, we honestly don’t know very much about her. In our minds we have already moved on from her appointment to her demise which, we have all but concluded, will either be because she is corrupt or because her pre-Mangaung political usefulness is over. Riah, thanks for playing. You’re fired.

But I’m going to stick my neck out here. I reckon there is a damn good chance that we’ve got this one wrong and that President Jacob Zuma has got it right. Riah Phiyega might be just the person to get the SAPS back on track.

Let’s for a moment forget what Phiyega isn’t and take a look at what she is. Firstly, she’s a she.

I wonder how many of her naysayers are hiding their dissatisfaction at her being a woman behind ‘lack of police experience’. As she herself has previously noted: "There is resistance to the loss of patriarchal authority. "Do we really believe a woman has what it takes to run the police? Wouldn’t we prefer a big burly bloke who wears cowboy hats and encourages his troops to "shoot to kill!"?

But the country will benefit from having a woman at the helm of the SAPS - and this woman in particular. Long before she had the job of National Police Commissioner on her radar she wrote: "Let them, the evildoers, strike that rock that you are, let them feel the pain, let them feel your power until they cower away like battered hyenas against the lionesses of Africa."

These words were written by Phiyega in an essay included in the Mail & Guardian’s book of South African women. They inspire enormous hope that a Police Commissioner will at last truly prioritise crimes against women.

Another critically important, largely ignored fact about Riah Phiyega, is her training and experience as a social worker. She holds a BA Social Work degree from the University of the North, a BA Honours degree in Social Science from Unisa and an MA Social Science from the University of Johannesburg. Her first job was as a social worker and branch manager for Pretoria Child Welfare. When one considers that this was a 5 year stint between 1981 and 1986 – still very much Apartheid years - one gets a sense of the determination and resolve of this woman.

I have often – only half in jest – suggested that the Department of Social Development and the police should share office premises. This is because we won’t solve our crime issues without dealing with our social issues. Phiyega will bring this vital understanding to her new position.

The third factor in Riah Phiyega’s favour is her extensive experience in business. I fall on the side of those who believe that the police should be run like a business. Over the past 15 or so years, she has served on the board of numerous companies and NGO’s and spent 8 years as a board member of the 2010 World Cup bid committee. She is reported to be an exceptional administrator with a zero tolerance attitude towards corruption.

At around 200 000, don’t we have enough police? What we need from a National Police Commissioner is an incorruptible specialist leader who can lead them. We need a person who can root out corruption and withstand the pressure applied on them from the corridors of political power. We need someone who understands that policing is an alliance between the public the government, the media and the police.

In terms of the creation of a safe and peaceful South Africa, it is critical that we get behind Riah Phiyega and the SAPS, for it is only with the support of the public that they can succeed. As she herself put it: "The measure of a great nation rests not in its government, but in its people."

I think the President may have found just the right woman for the job.