Former director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Billy Masetlha has warned that the existence of the Scorpions unit in its current form — outside the South African Police Service — remains a threat to national security and could lead to the country being infiltrated by foreign intelligence operatives.
Masetlha also lashed out at his former boss, Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, saying his submissions to the Judge Sisi Khampepe Commission, a judicial commission set up by the president to decide on the future of the Scorpions, were in direct conflict with those of other security clusters and differed from ANC resolutions on the Scorpions.
The 2005 Khampepe Commission heard Kasrils, apart from Scorpions head Vusi Pikoli, as the lone voice in the security cluster calling for the restoration of the directorate of special operations — a submission opposed by Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, police chief Jackie Selebi, the NIA and Parliament’s standing committee on intelligence.
Most recently, delegates at the ANC policy conference proposed the abolition of the unit, while the ANC’s alliance partners, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party, have supported the call.
Masetlha said the Scorpions had created discord in the security cluster as the unit was encroaching on police work and was involved in gathering intelligence and counter-intelligence.
‘The actual conflict is that the NPA was doing both intelligence work and police work. They still do even today. Ronnie [Kasrils] seems to have his own values and his positions, which are in conflict with those of the ANC.
‘The ANC has reiterated for the fourth time now that the Scorpions must be abolished. We can’t have people who are a law unto themselves, people who do not account to the parliamentary standing committee or the auditor general.â€
He said President Thabo Mbeki’s decision to form the Scorpions, despite opposition from the security cluster, had created unnecessary conflict between the police and the Scorpions.
The security cluster’s proposal to remove George Fivas as police chief and replace him with Selebi sought to transform the police force and beef up its capacity.
‘We said if there is something wrong with the police or they lacked capacity, beef up the police force instead of creating a parallel structure. Now we have a situation where the Scorpions are investigating the police chief [Selebi] and he is investigating them for other crimes. They want Jackie in jail and he wants them in jail.â€
The Scorpions are investigating Selebi’s friendship with suspected drug kingpin Glenn Agliotti and Agliotti’s role in the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
The police, in turn, have been gathering evidence outlining the abuse of state funds by senior members of the directorate of special operations.
The former intelligence boss criticised the Scorpions for using private security agents; some of them hired from former National Prosecuting Authority director Bulelani Ngcuka’s company, Amabhubesi Investments, to do intelligence work.
He outlined the August 2005 raid by the Scorpions at the Union Buildings where the crime-busting unit cordoned off the country’s seat of government in search of documents that could incriminate former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
‘This kind of behaviour cannot be allowed. Jackie and I fought with them and took them to court. Even the FBI in America cannot cordon off and raid the White House. Even worse, in this case 80% of the security personnel were private security officers from Amabhubesi.â€
Masetlha said most of the Scorpions’ investigations undermined the authority of the ANC. ‘The majority of the cases pursued by the Scorpions are driven by an intention to destroy the ANC. At least 90% of the people being investigated by the Scorpions are ANC members.â€