A key figure from South Africa’s scandal-plagued arms deal is embroiled in a new investigation by German prosecutors involving Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems, the company that led the consortium supplying four corvettes to the South African Navy. Former Rear Admiral Johnny Kamerman features prominently in a new probe by the Dusseldorf Prosecutors office

DA mayor of Cape Town Helen Zille complained to Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils on Thursday about the alleged illegal bugging of her private home. Zille told the Mail & Guardian she was confident of a link between the alleged surveillance and the probe instituted by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool into claims that the DA illegally spied on city councillors.

Scorpions investigators are to be screened before being incorporated into the South African Police Service. The former defence force chief and chairperson of the African National Congress’s subcommittee on peace and stability, Siphiwe Nyanda, said the Scorpions will be audited to get rid of the “bad apples” linked to apartheid’s dirty tricks or who work for “foreign services”.

An affidavit from acting prosecutions head Mokotedi Mpshe effectively blows apart government’s main charge against his suspended predecessor, Vusi Pikoli — that he had not kept his minister informed. President Thabo Mbeki suspended Pikoli last September.

Justice department Director General Menzi Simelane has emerged as a key player in the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Vusi Pikoli. Pikoli was expected to make his final submission to former speaker of Parliament Frene Ginwala’s commission of inquiry into his fitness to hold office on Friday.

The pathology services, the foundation of medical care and research, are under threat in Gauteng as the government laboratory services experience a haemorrhage of expert staff. Insiders say that over the past few months five of the country’s leading anatomical pathologists have resigned from the National Health Laboratory Services in the Gauteng region.

Uncertainty surround government’s proposals for merging the Scorpions with the police organised crime units — under South African Police Service control. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told Parliament on Tuesday: “The Scorpions will be dissolved and the organised crime unit of the police will be phased out and a new amalgamated unit will be created.”

President Thabo Mbeki’s reference to land reform in his State of the Nation address has provoked cautious optimism among lobbyists, who are hoping South Africa’s policy in this regard might finally be on track. Ben Cousins, director of the University of the Western Cape’s Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies, expressed some disappointment, saying Mbeki said “nothing new”.

Mbeki favours collective responsibility without accountability. He told Independent Newspapers after a weekend interview that he did not know of any failures in his Cabinet, even as he alluded to failures in handling electricity in last week’s state of the nation speech and the performance of setas (sector education and training authorities) during a television interview, writes Rapule Tabane/