Elite South African crime-fighting unit the Scorpions, which have been accused by the African National Congress of abusing their power in political cases, will be dissolved, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.
The FBI-style Scorpions have been living on borrowed time since Jacob Zuma beat President Thabo Mbeki for the leadership of the ANC in December. Zuma’s camp accused the Scorpions of engaging in a plot to smear and deny Zuma the ANC top job.
The ruling party later approved a resolution calling for the dissolution of the Scorpions, and Mbeki reluctantly agreed. The matter is now before Parliament, which is dominated by the ANC.
”We are going to dissolve the Scorpions,” Maggie Sotyu, the ANC chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on safety and security, said at a press conference in Cape Town.
She added that Parliament’s job was to ”implement the policies of the ruling party”.
Mbeki’s decision to approve the dissolution of the Scorpions, officially known as the Directorate of Special Operations, has been criticised by the opposition, which fears it will increase corruption and other crimes.
The move faces a challenge in the Constitutional Court.
Established by Mbeki in 1999 to fight high-profile corruption cases, the Scorpions have scored successes against organised crime, despite seeing their reputation attacked as a result of a corruption investigation targeting Zuma.
The unit is not part of the police and reports to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The NPA in turn answers to South Africa’s Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
In 2005, the Scorpions raided properties belonging to Zuma and his lawyer as part of their probe of the politician, who is scheduled to go on trial later this year for fraud, bribery and other wrongdoing tied to an arms scandal.
Zuma is widely seen as the frontrunner to replace Mbeki, who must leave office in 2009.
The ANC leader’s supporters have been removing party and parliamentary bodies of the most pro-Mbeki officials, and the rivalry between the two has stoked investor fears of political instability in Africa’s largest economy.
It is unclear, however, whether disbanding the Scorpions will have any bearing on the legal case against Zuma, who has pledged to step down as ANC leader if convicted.
Mbeki fought to save the Scorpions and had the support of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, and others, but his ministers were lukewarm to the idea in the face of pressure from the Zuma-led ANC.
Parliament will debate the laws dissolving the Scorpions as part of a wider revamp of the country’s criminal justice system. Public hearings are due to start on Tuesday.
The disbandment of the Scorpions is expected to be adopted by Parliament in September. — Reuters