Legal nightmare to relocate Scorpions – McCarthy

‘The DSO (Directorate of Special Operations) was a good institution,’ he told the commission on its eighth day of public hearings into the future of the Scorpions. According to a report on the News24 site, he said he tried to come to an accommodation with the police by setting up guidelines as to which organisation would take which cases and other thorny issues, as well as a committee to deal with them. However, this failed, he said, because of police stalling. He said moving the DSO could be a legal ‘nightmare’ with regard to labour law, as some state officials might not want to be transferred against their will. He added that, according to his own canvassing, the majority of investigators would not end up in the SA Police Services as they would consider it a step down on the career ladder. In the four years of its existence the Scorpions had achieved a 90% conviction rate, bringing down 57 key syndicates with a financial crime value of R13bn. Full report on the News24 site

Insiders say morale in the Scorpions has reached ‘rock bottom’, according to a Financial Mail report. It quotes a government official as saying the Scorpions have become central to the power struggle within the ANC and some fear the unit could be the concession its supporters will have to make to ease those political tensions. A number of senior party officials and some Cabinet members are said to have been pushing for the Scorpions to be disbanded or incorporated into the police service. This was confirmed this week when the SA Police Service, the National Intelligence Agency and Justice Ministry told the commission that the unit should be disbanded. A presidency insider says Mbeki believes the unit should continue to operate independently, but is likely to look to Khampepe\'s report for recommendations on how to tighten its mandate and operational functions. Full Financial Mail report (subscription needed)