Cabinet+Scorpions+decision+has+sting+in+tail,+City+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, Editorial, 01/07/2006 16:42 - (SA)
=Cabinet decision on Scorpions comes with a sting in the tail=

THE announcement by government this week that Cabinet had accepted the recommendations of the Khampepe Commission on the mandate and location of the Scorpions raises more questions than answers.

The Scorpions were formed at a time when the police were still headed by George Fivaz, someone considered to be part of the old order.

Sensitive cases were transferred to the new unit which was particularly well resourced to ensure that it delivered. And it did. In the process, it stepped on highly sensitive toes in dealing with fraud and corruption.

Rivalry soon emerged with police officers miffed at the thought that the Scorpions were over-resourced and picked and chose cases with a media profile which they used to enhance their status in the public mind.

The South African Police Service (SAPS), under Jackie Selebi, also felt it had changed and that the reason for the Scorpions to exist outside of it now fell away. It wanted the unit to be integrated into the SAPS.

At the same time, while the Scorpions also developed an intelligence capacity, other formal intelligence organs of state grew jealous.

Enter Judge Sisi Khampepe to resolve the issue. She found there was still a need for the Scorpions to exist as a separate entity. However, because the unit encompassed policing and prosecuting personnel, its location became a problem.

Khampepe, and the government, have gone for the soft option. The Scorpions will remain in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) but the investigative arm will report to the minister of safety and security, Charles Nqakula.

What this means is that NPA head Vusi Pikoli now has two ministers to report to.

Where will the Scorpions budget be located? In the police? Under Selebi to whom they do not report ? Or will there be a separate budget under Nqakula which Selebi will have no control over?

For how long can this sham continue? The ANC had resolved that the Scorpions should be relocated to the police. It is clear that given the political climate and the shenanigans in the ANC, doing so would have been seen as a victory for the people who have made bashing the unit their lifetime career.

But then if you want to deny these people victory, why not keep the unit in the NPA in toto.

The administrative nightmare that will result from this hybrid decision is going to be huge. For example, is there going to be a meeting of the directors-general every time a case is reported so they can decide whether it will be the Scorpions or the police who will investigate? What will this do to the speed and efficiency of the response to problems?

We can only hope the decision is a temporary "solution" that can be reversed one way or another once the climate changes.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/Leaders/0,,186-189_1961231,00.html**

488 words