The state’s case against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi could be a major casualty of the African National Congress’s (ANC) drive to shut down the Scorpions.
The Mail & Guardian has established that seven of the eight investigators working on the Selebi case have already resigned or are in the process of leaving the unit. This poses serious problems for the prosecution, as the investigators have to ensure that witnesses turn up at court and are willing to testify as well as introduce documentary evidence and follow up any new leads from Selebi’s defence.
Senior investigators Neels de Lange, Piet van der Merwe and Piet Jonker have tendered their resignations, while four others are in the process of doing so. A senior Scorpion said this week.: ”It’s not because of this specific investigation that they are leaving, but because of the uncertainty about what will happen to them.”
Although there is no mass exodus of the Scorpions’ almost 500 members at this stage, unit members told the M&G this week that they are extremely uncertain about their future. ”Most guys have adopted a wait-and-see approach, but we are also on the lookout for opportunities on the side,” one senior investigator said.
This fuels fears that by the time legislation to incorporate the Scorpions into the police is in the statute books there will be no members left.
”Was that the ANC’s strategy all along?” one Scorpion asked this week. ”With all the uncertainty about our futures, and the June deadline, people have left or are thinking of leaving. In effect, the Scorpions are self-destructing.”
Other state investigating bodies, such as the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the special investigating unit, have already approached Scorpions investigators, while a number of private forensic audit firms have also expressed interest in acquiring their skills. ”Sars is on a huge drive to beef up their criminal investigations unit. A lot of the guys [Scorpions] have been interviewed by them.”
The M&G has learned that forensic auditors Gobodo have approached members of the Scorpions’ team investigating the Fidentia scam.
A minority of unit members appear willing to be incorporated into the South African Police Service (SAPS). ”I was there and I don’t want to go back. I don’t trust the police anymore,” said one investigator this week.
A senior National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) official said that the departure of investigators could seriously affect cases, even where the investigation was complete and ready for court. He said investigators formed relationships with their witnesses in much the same way as ”handlers” did with their sources. Witnesses had to be conducted through the court process and made to feel comfortable, a role investigators played.
In some prosecutions — including those of Selebi and Wouter Basson — witnesses were subjected to pressure to change their testimony. They could succumb more easily without the investigator being at their side to help shield them.
Another senior Scorpion told the M&G that the unit could not take on new cases at present ”because nobody knows what’s going to happen. We can’t build relationships with contacts or make deals with witnesses because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We’re very reluctant to take on new cases,” the investigator said.
The M&G has learned that negotiations between the NPA and the SAPS over a new ”super” unit to deal with organised crime, as announced by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, have reached deadlock.
The NPA is arguing for an independent investigating body outside the police that would employ the best Scorpions and SAPS investigators, and wants it to fall under the Department of Safety and Security.
But the police are still insisting that the unit falls under the SAPS. The M&G has established that retired deputy police national commissioner Louis Eloff has been appointed consultant in acting national commissioner Tim Williams’s office, and will be instrumental in deciding the composition and structure of the ”super” unit.
The M&G was also told that within the police department the integration of the Scorpions into the SAPS was discussed ”formally and informally” for a considerable time.
June deadline unrealistic
Meanwhile, legislation disbanding the Scorpions will not be ready by June, thus missing the deadline set by the ANC’s Polokwane conference, reports Mandy Rossouw.
ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte told the M&G on Thursday that the organisation is more concerned about the quality of the legislation passed by Parliament than the time frame for its enactment. Duarte said reasons for the delay will be discussed by the party’s national working committee, but ”we want Parliament to do a thorough job … We understand why it is taking long.”
Other parliamentary and government sources also concede that the legislation has no chance of making the statute book by the end of June, with a Justice and Constitutional Development Department source echoing Duarte: ”It’s complicated legislation and we’re not going to rush through it.”
Given that this year’s final parliamentary session, which would have begun in October, is to be scrapped to allow for campaigning for the elections next April, the Democratic Alliance believes the legislation may only be finalised next year.
The required amendment to the National Prosecuting Authority Act must be first submitted to the Cabinet, which, the justice department says, will be done at the end of April.
Once the Cabinet has referred it to Parliament, the committees for safety and security and justice will sit jointly to deliberate on the Bill. Extensive public hearings are expected to be held.