While it’s only a formality for Bills that squashed the Scorpions to be approved in the National Council of Provinces, in reality the unit was already on the skids. Almost half the desks in the unit were empty; morale, understandably, was said to be low.
Thursday saw vigorous debate in the National Assembly, with opposition parties decrying “the murder” of the unit in contrast to the African National Congress’s assertion that this was the best of all possible outcomes.
The Democratic Alliance’s Dianne Kohler-Barnard reminded the House that the Khampepe commission, under Judge Sisi Khampepe, had “told Parliament to keep the DSO [Scorpions] under the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority]”.
Despite this, “the country then learned to its horror that when reality doesn’t suit the ANC, it thinks it can overrule a judge”.
She predicted that the Scorpions’ advocates, forensic auditors and specialist investigators would not join the new South African Police Service unit.
A different spin came from the Safety and Security Minister, Nathi Mthethwa.
“We must commend the profoundly democratic manner in which the Bills on this matter have been processed. The vibrant discussion on the Bills has enriched our understanding of the challenges we face,” he said.
He said the establishment of the new Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation means there is a “sharper instrument to stab the heart of organised crime”.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions applauded Parliament for responding to the “voice of the majority” and said the Scorpions had been guilty of “bad habits and political bias”.
The unit, said spokesperson Patrick Craven, was “a separate elite force which was not subject to adequate public accountability and became a law unto themselves”. He added: “This led to individuals’ rights being compromised and Scorpions officers being diverted from the fight against crime to political campaigns against certain individuals.”
We will probably never really know what the actual effect of scrapping the unit will be. To be sure, some criminals will be caught — and you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll hear about those — but what about the ones that will get away?
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
Hugh Glenister
This brave businessman battled to the end to try to save the Scorpions. This week, two courts ruled against him. His lawyer said they always knew it was going to be a long shot, but Glenister is to be praised for not just complaining, but also trying to change things for the better. There’s a lesson here for many South Africans. |
 Angie Motshekga
The “dogs” have left the ANC, said Motshekga, president of the ANC Women’s League, this week. She’s tried to backtrack, but the damage has been done. And, as one M&G Online reader pointed out, it’s really not fair to dogs to compare them to politicians. |
Most-read stories
October 16 to 22
1. Mbeki dares Zuma (again)
Stop calling me your friend and comrade in public while stabbing daggers in my back, was former president Thabo Mbeki’s message to ANC leader Jacob Zuma in papers filed with the Constitutional Court this week.
2. Inside the Shikota movement
The new party mooted by former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa wants to be a modern party without the pressures of the ideological baggage that the alliance-based ANC has to carry.
3. ANC rebels surge in seven provinces
Seven provinces could be split by the fracturing of the African National Congress (ANC). The three Capes — Western, Eastern and Northern — already beset by factionalism and division, are ripe to split.
4. Be afraid. Be very afraid
There is much merit in Pallo Jordan’s counselling against splitting off from the ANC in preference to fighting one’s corner from within.
5. ‘The dogs have left the ANC’
The African National Congress (ANC) has not gone to the dogs, but the dogs have left the party, said the ANC Women’s League on Monday.
6. The infantilisation of politics
If there’s one thing driving me into the arms of the ANC-Mark2, it’s Youth League president Julius Malema and his ilk. And I’m not alone.
7. Major ANC donor in graft probe
A case of corruption has been opened against Robert Gumede, the chairperson of listed information technology company GijimaAST.
8. ANC calls for rethink on land redistribution
The African National Congress, under pressure over the amount of land still in white hands, called on Sunday for the scrapping of laws allowing farmers to set a price for land to be redistributed to black South Africans.
9. ANC warns as Lekota heads to Gauteng
The African National Congress (ANC) will take disciplinary action against any member seen to be mobilising for the formation of a splinter party, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
10. DA wants its turn in the sun after Zuma show
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Thursday wrote to the South African Broadcasting Corporation requesting that the national broadcaster give the opposition the same television platform afforded to ANC president Jacob Zuma.