It’s been 12 years since the Directorate of Special Operations, commonly known as the Scorpions, were disbanded by the ANC. It has hobbled South Africa’s fight against corruption, perhaps permanently, writes Pieter du Toit.
When Jacob Zuma was announced victorious at the ANC’s divisive national conference at the Mankweng campus of the University of Limpopo in December 2007, the allies of the vanquished Thabo Mbeki were distraught.
A grim-faced Mbhazima Shilowa, then premier of Gauteng, sat behind Mbeki, who was flanked on one side by Essop Pahad, his trusted ally and minister in the presidency. Pahad’s brother, Aziz, deputy minister of foreign affairs, and another member of Mbeki’s Cabinet, left the enormous marquee tent quickly. Mbeki himself was ashen.
More than 2 000 delegates were deliriously chanting “Zuma, Zuma, Zuma…!” as the new ANC leader ascended the stage to soak in the adulation of his mesmerised supporters.
But the Mbekiites, many of whom attempted to persuade the then head of state to withdraw from the race and back another candidate able to defeat the juggernaut that was Zuma, were stricken. Almost to a man they warned of what was to come: Zuma and his cronies were going to dismantle all the progress made since 1994.
Indeed, one of the main planks of the “Zumafesto”, as City Press famously described Zuma’s campaign manifesto, was the dismantling of the Scorpions.
And when Parliament reconvened early in 2008, with the ANC under new management, one of the very first orders of business was to establish an ad hoc committee to fast track the dissolution of the elite corruption fighting unit.
At a press conference in a stuffy committee room in 120 Plein Street building, co-chairpersons Yunus Carrim and Maggie Sotyu made no bones about the farce that the parliamentary process was to become.
“The Scorpions will be dismantled, it will be dismantled!”
The dismantling of the Scorpions was a decision of the governing party and, although a parliamentary process was to be followed, the result was a fait accompli. “The Scorpions will be dismantled, it will be dismantled!” an angry Sotyu bristled at journalists who questioned the ANC’s motives.
The Scorpions, or the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), was a unit housed in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). It was based on international best practice in combating organised crime and institutionalised corruption, and followed the so-called “troika model”, where prosecutors worked alongside investigators and forensic experts as part of a single unit.
That meant that investigators and forensic analysts worked side by side with the prosecutor as part of a single reporting structure. Prosecutors could guide investigators about what they needed to ensure a successful prosecution, and analysts could help prosecutors understand forensic evidence.
The methodology proved enormously successful. In the two years before Polokwane, it initiated 368 investigations, completed 264 and finalised 214 prosecutions, with a conviction rate of 85%. It arrested 617 suspects, seized assets of R1 billion and recovered contraband and drugs worth R1 billion.
But the Scorpions, whose members were well remunerated, driving their slick, black Golf GTIs and regularly featuring on the eight o’clock news as they arrested crooks, and made powerful enemies. They nabbed 50 Members of Parliament – mostly from the ANC – who defrauded the taxpayer in the so-called “travelgate” scandal, and helped put away the ANC’s Tony Yengeni and Zuma’s benefactor Schabir Shaik.
Yengeni and Shaik were ensnared in the government’s multibillion-rand strategic arms procurement deal, and Zuma was the Scorpions’ next target.
The ANC did not like the Scorpions one bit.
But, by June 2008, the governing party, showing a determination and efficiency not seen since, had disbanded the DSO, shifting the investigators to the police and integrating the prosecutors into other areas of the NPA.
The ANC, in its all-consuming obsession to shield Zuma from accountability, dealt South Africa’s campaign against corruption a blow from which, 12 years later, it has not been able to recover.
On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa told a weary nation that he has created a “coordinating centre” at the Financial Intelligence Centre from where a range of law enforcement agencies will “prevent, detect, investigate and prosecute Covid-related corruption”.
This was because there are increased reports of malfeasance related to the fight against the coronavirus, with corruption in the procurement of protection equipment, provision of services and infrastructure.
“We are determined that every instance of alleged corruption must be thoroughly investigated, that those responsible for wrongdoing should be prosecuted and that all monies stolen or overpriced are recovered,” Ramaphosa said.
But if ever there were words that rang hollow, it was those.
Because on 30 June Shamila Batohi appeared in front of MPs and told them the battle against corruption is not being won. She told MPs that the NPA’s capability and capacity to investigate and prosecute corruption cases have over the last decade been severely damaged. And she pleaded with MPs to help prevent cuts to the budget of the police’s Hawks – that replaced the Scorpions – because the NPA was completely dependent on its investigations.
NDPP Shamila Batohi at the meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services. (Jan Gerber, News24)
South Africa has seen a decade of capture, but not a single successful high-profile prosecution related to the gutting of the state and annexation of publicly owned companies.
Batohi last year brought in help from outside the NPA to assist with politically significant and complicated cases by establishing a unit under advocate Hermione Cronje to focus on specific prosecutions. This because the NPA – during the Zuma years – was disembowelled and simply did not have the necessary skills.
There is enormous frustration inside the NPA not only about the ability of the Hawks to conduct investigations, but also their seeming lack of commitment to doing so.
The NPA’s cases are only as strong as the quality of the Hawks’ investigations. And, privately, some in the NPA are saying it is simply not up to scratch and one of the chief reasons why prosecutions aren’t happening.
The recent arrests of suspects linked to the grand theft at VBS Mutual Bank is a glimmer of hope.
But the demise of the Scorpions in June 2008, the subsequent rise of politically sponsored corruption and resultant widespread impunity, is the main reason why Ramaphosa’s words on Thursday will be easily forgotten.
