Riah Phiyega
"[1] Phiyega countered by explaining that her experience as a leader in the corporate world made her an effective manager and offered her a perspective that would be useful to the South African police.[6] Helmoed-Römer Heitman, an expert on South African military decorations, examined the specific medals and the conditions of issue at the request of media outlets and concluded he was "happy to accept that she deserves the medals.” Oscar Skommere, general secretary of the South African Police Union, however, criticized Phiyega's decorations and claimed that some police officers had been waiting to receive medals for which they qualified for more than 15 years.[7] Phiyega responded by noting she had only been on the job for two months at the time the killings occurred, having inherited an unworkable agency from her fired predecessor Bheki Cele.[8] In a separate finding, the commission determined Phiyega had let "political considerations" influence her decisions as police commissioner, and had failed to act in an impartial manner.[9] Subsequent to her suspension an investigation by a "reference group" appointed by police minister Nkosinathi Nhleko found Phiyega to have committed perjury and ignored internal processes when demoting, suspending and removing several senior officials.