Scorpions – filling the void

THIS week parliamentary committees for safety and security and justice will begin the costly charade of hearing selected submissions from the public, opposition parties and civil society groups on why the Scorpions should not be incorporated into the police.

This will be followed by further public hearings in the provinces after which the ANC will ram through legislation dissolving the unit – as was confirmed by the chair of the committee on safety and security Maggie Sotyu last week. “ A decision was taken in Polokwane in December that we should dissolve the Scorpions .”

The policy decision had been taken by the ruling party and it was now simply up to Parliament to implement that decision , she stated, effectively blowing the public participative process right out of the water before it had even started.

Her bottom line? Thousands of South African voters may be unhappy about it, democracy may be choking in a necklock, but it’s a done deal, “finished and klaar”.

So why the public hearings?

Yussuf Cassim, who chairs the committee for justice and constitutional development, and is Sotyu’s colleague, told City Press: “What we are especially keen to hear from the public is the terms under which the incorporation must take place.” While it certainly seems that the goalposts have been shifted, his comment does beg a critical question – and one that will remain pertinent long after the howls of protest have faded: What exactly will we have to replace the Scorpions once the crack crime-fighting unit has been disbanded?

Organised crime is certainly not letting up. In fact, it is becoming increasingly apparent that we are battling a monster far bigger than any of us imagined – including here in the Eastern Cape.

The former premier, Nosimo Balindlela, alluded to vast criminal networks within government in an interview this weekend, saying she had been shocked at the extent of the corruption she encountered, especially in the health and education departments. “It (corruption) was so syndicated. It is like organised crime”.

Meanwhile in Nelson Mandela Bay organised crime has been showing another face. A massive increase in cash-in-transit and bank heists, house robberies and hijackings – up to 40 percent – in recent months is being attributed to outsider syndicates moving into the region to work in tandem with local gangs.

In response the Eastern Cape government ordered the formation of a crack Rapid Response Unit, which falls under the wing of the flying squad. Similar squads are being set up for Mthatha, King William’s Town and East London

While these do not answer the question of who will police the police force, strengthening such units at a local level is certainly something to consider as we wave farewell to the Scorpions.