The acting head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Mokotedi Mpshe, on Monday said he was puzzled by statements saying the Scorpions are to be ”disbanded” on the one hand, and ”dissolved” on the other, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.
”They may have a certain measure of similarity, but what one would understand by ‘dissolve’ is that you scatter it apart. With ‘disband’ you have an idea of dislocating the whole organisation,” Mpshe said in a telephonic interview.
The African National Congress decided to merge the Scorpions with the police by June 2008.
The move was announced in Parliament by the Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, and opposed by businesses and opposition parties.
Mpshe said the unit is functioning at full capacity and functionality.
”I just need clarity with regard to the two statements. I’ve heard rumours that in some other companies like KPMG and others, they have been telling colleagues they have a hundred applications of Scorpion members.”
Mpshe also said Scorpions members appeared to be looking for new jobs after recent announcements about the unit’s future. He said he was hoping to secure a meeting with Nqakula to discuss the issue.
Nqakula said in Parliament last week that the Scorpions will be merged into a new unit in the South African Police Service in order to change for the better, the fight against organised crime.
The Scorpions are a multi-disciplinary agency that investigates and prosecutes organised crime and corruption and are located in the NPA and fall under the Department of Justice.
UDM prepares legal challenge
Meanwhile, The United Democratic Movement (UDM) was prepared to fight the disbanding of the Scorpions in court ”at any moment”, party president Bantu Holomisa said on Monday.
”We have instructed [our lawyers] to prepare for such a legal challenge to be launched at any moment, depending on how the ANC government behaves from this point onwards,” he wrote in a statement.
The UDM’s legal team had advised it that there were grounds on which to challenge the legality and constitutionality of efforts to dismantle the Scorpions. Holomisa would not say what these grounds were.
He called on Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete to ensure that the public could voice its opinion on the crime-fighting unit’s future.
”There has been a general complaint among voters that laws seem to be steam-rollered through Parliament by the ANC who uses the institution as a rubber-stamp for the executive,” he said.
”There is often a radical lack of consultation with the wider public.” – Sapa