No Scorpions, no case

A complainant who gave defunct graft-busting outfit the Scorpions evidence of major tender-rigging has been told that the case was closed because the unit was disbanded earlier this year.

When Parliament disbanded the Scorpions the country was assured that all matters would be transferred to the police and no crimes would fall through the cracks during the transition to the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation — the Hawks.

But the Mail & Guardian is in possession of a letter written by the Scorpions’ former Western Cape head, advocate Adrian Mopp, to the complainant on February 24 this year, informing him that his office “is not in a position to deal with the matter further due to the pending dissolution of the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) [the Scorpions]”.

The matter concerns serious allegations of fraud and corruption against Africa Strategic Asset Protection (Asap), a security company that won a R32-million tender to provide and install access-control security equipment in Parliament.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) told the M&G the Scorpions could not investigate all matters referred to them and the Asap matter was not formally registered as an investigation. As a result, it was not among 288 dockets handed over to the Hawks in July this year.

In August 2007, under the headline “Huge security scam rocks Parliament”, the M&G revealed clear evidence of tender rigging involving Asap and politically connected individuals involved in the Parliament security contract.

Asap was also awarded lucrative tenders by the South African Revenue Service, the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, two parastatals and the 2010 Fifa World Cup’s local organising committee. The Scorpions were handed a mass of company documentation, including emails and invoices

In his letter, Mopp confirms that the Scorpions attended to the Asap matter and that a “preliminary evaluation of the available information” was conducted. He then informs the complainant “with regret” that the Scorpions will no longer deal with the case. “This office has now closed the evaluation phase and the matter may be regarded as finalised,” Mopp writes. He says that nothing precludes the complainant from reporting the matter to the police “and/or to exercise any right that you may have in terms of the Constitution and/or any other law”.

The letter appears to contradict at least two assurances about the disbanding of the Scorpions:

• In an affidavit before the North Gauteng High Court in Hugh Glenister’s first application to retain the Scorpions last year, Justice Department Director General Menzi Simelane said under oath: “Any current investigation that has evidential merit will be referred to prosecution by the law enforcement agency that is dealing with that investigation. Any future investigation of any person who has committed a criminal offence will be processed by the relevant law enforcement agency without fear or favour.”
• During Parliament’s public hearings on the closure of the unit, the issue of the transfer of matters under investigation by the Scorpions was debated at length and was reflected in the South African Police Service Amendment Act, which created the Hawks.

  This states: “As from the fixed date [of promulgation], investigations of the DSO shall be dealt with as if this Act had at all times been in force.”

NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said it was “unfortunate that the letter has been interpreted to mean that the DSO closed an authorised investigation and did not comply with the provisions of the NPA Amendment Act”.

Mhaga said the Asap matter was not yet a registered investigation and all complaints received by the DSO had been subject to an evaluation to determine whether the matter fell within its mandate.

“Where such a complaint was not taken on by the DSO, it would direct the complainant to the appropriate institution. In this particular case the complainant was referred to the South African Police Service [SAPS].”

Mhaga is silent on why, according to Mopp’s letter, the dissolution of the Scorpions was the main reason for closing the Asap file.

Mhaga said the complainant had written to Hawks boss Anwa Dramat to reopen the case.

“Arrangements have already been made to have all the material made available to the SAPS.”

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, South Africa is compelled to have a focused anti-corruption unit.

At the July launch of the Hawks, the police made it clear that the unit would focus not only on fighting corruption, but also on all other organised crime, including drug-dealing, cash-in-transit heists and gang activity.

It is still unclear whether the Hawks will have a specialised anti-corruption unit and what resources will be allocated to fighting graft.

Hawks spokesperson Musa Zondi said close to 1 000 investigators and support staff had provisionally been seconded to the Hawks pending the finalisation of a year-long vetting process.