Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy told the Khampepe commission on Wednesday it would be a ”nightmare” to relocate the unit and it should be left in place and enhanced by legislation.
”The DSO [Directorate of Special Operations] is a good institution. I can’t give assurances that everyone is above board and honest, but it is a good institution,” he told the commission on its eighth day of public hearings.
The commission, headed by Judge Sisi Khampepe, is conducting public hearings into the future of the Scorpions, which operates as an elite crime-busting unit. It currently falls under the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), as the DSO.
He said he has tried many ways of lobbying police for guidelines.
He even extended an olive branch to the police, saying he acknowledged them as the main law-enforcement agency and that the Scorpions were merely supplementary, but to no avail.
Attempts at setting up guidelines on which organisation would take which cases and other thorny issues, as well as a committee to deal with them, failed because of police stalling.
The failed guideline process took place from July 2001 until President Thabo Mbeki suggested the Khampepe commission in February this year.
In the meantime, while the guideline process was under way, McCarthy said things on an operational level were going well.
”Lots of good work was being done on ground level. When the DSO had an operation, the police were there to assist and no one could do it better,” he said.
‘Nightmare’
However, McCarthy testified that the Scorpions have access to modern investigative techniques and technology that are vital for an effective response to the types of high-level crimes they are mandated to investigate and prosecute.
He said moving the DSO could be a legal ”nightmare” with regard to labour law, as some state officials might not want to be transferred against their will.
He added that according to his own canvassing, the majority of investigators would not end up in the South African Police Service, as they would consider it a step down on the career ladder.
In the four years of its existence, the DSO has handled 1 044 projects and achieved a 90% conviction rate, bringing down 57 key syndicates with a financial crime value of R13-billion.
Questions of accountability and oversight have been an important term of reference for the commission.
McCarthy said all investigations are done according to a plan, a ”documented system of doing things” and intensive performance-management systems are conducted once a year.
”People don’t just do as they please,” he said.
He also said all overseas travel and recruitment of outside consultants can only be done with the permission of the justice minister.
DSO is ‘authorised’
McCarthy dismissed the hotly contested definitions of intelligence or information gathering.
”Whether we call it intelligence or gathering of information, what the DSO does is authorised by the law,” he said.
He suggested the establishment of a committee of the heads of the various law-enforcement agencies that could meet once a month and advise on concerns, take decisions on combating crime and be used as a trust-building forum.
Answering the question of whether the DSO was established as a temporary measure, he said: ”I submit it was not intended to be temporary. Otherwise it would have said so.”
McCarthy also presented the commission with insight into the functions, methods and performance of the Scorpions.
Responding to accusations by the Police and Prisons Civil Union that the DSO makes excessive use of consultants — which the National Intelligence Agency on Tuesday said could lead to a national security threat — McCarthy said the DSO does not outsource more than 5% of its work.
”We have used consultants in 59 instances over the past four years. Some of the work we do is very complex and we cannot take chances,” he said, adding the DSO also litigates overseas, or needs to recruit outside computer technicians to crack hard drives.
The Scorpions currently have 500 employees, at a cost of R136-million. The DSO contributes 70% of the money in the criminal-assets recovery fund from its investigations.
McCarthy said the Scorpions should be endorsed, retained and enhanced, with legislative amendments to improve efficiency.
Operation management is a key dilemma, he conceded, and suggested the commission advise on resolution mechanisms. — Sapa