Scorpions: It's gloves-off time

2005-10-05 22:54

Pretoria - Scorpions detectives belonged in the police and prosecutors with the national prosecuting authority, a commission of inquiry was told on Wednesday.

SA Police Service advocate Philip Jacobs said prosecutors should remain true to their role, and investigators had to fall under the command and control of the police.

"The SAPS does not have a problem with the co-location of investigators and prosecutors as part of a multidisciplinary task team on a specific investigation," he said in Pretoria.

"But the prosecutor must remain true to his role and fall under the NPA, while investigators remain under the command and control of the police."

The commission, headed by Judge Sisi Khampepe, is conducting public hearings into the future of the Scorpions, which operates as an elite crime-busting unit.

It falls under the NPA, as the directorate of special operations (DSO). Scorpions detectives conduct their investigations hand-in-hand with NPA prosecutors.

The 'troika approach'

Jacobs said that, taking into account the history of the DSO and the factors leading to its establishment, the unit was clearly intended as a temporary measure.

Jacobs said the SAPS was a highly professional service and a world leader in various areas of policing which used an approach which was much broader than the DSO's troika approach.

He argued that the skills and technology available to the SAPS was by no means inferior to that of the DSO.

"In respect of technology, the SAPS is equipped with equipment that rates among the best for forensic investigations, including ballistics, fingerprint ID and surveillance."

Wherever the DSO was located, it would need the support of criminal records, forensic science services and holding cells, he said.

The police contended there was a constitutional problem in terms of establishing the Scorpions under the NPA, as it did not have a constitutional responsibility in respect of the investigation of crime or intelligence.

Crime operations and investigations also needed to be co-ordinated.

It had happened that the police had had suspects who were at the same time witnesses for the Scorpions.

Ruled thata the hearings be open

Jacobs said: "Undercover operations are conducted at high costs and run the risk of being exposed in view of a lack of co-ordination."

The Scorpions, being neither a police service nor an intelligence service, made it impossible to simply transform them into a "security service" to remedy existing constitutional problems.

Earlier, commission chair Judge Sisi Khampepe ruled that the hearings be open to the public after a submission by Jacobs that certain discussions be held in camera.

"I am unpersuaded that compelling reasons have been advanced to me by (the SAPS) for the exclusion of members of the general public at these hearings," she said.

Counsel for the national intelligence agency (NIA), George Bizos SC, said the constitutional section providing for a single police service was often used as justification for the disbanding of the Scorpions.

However, the word "single" in the constitution did not mean to "the exclusion of all others", he said.

Bizos argued that there was no provision in the constitution preventing the existence of a force such as the Scorpions outside of police command.

Upsetting the applecart

The NIA hold that disbanding the Scorpions will negatively affect the synergy of skills within the organisation that could be employed in the effective combating of crime.

"The wisdom of upsetting the applecart must be taken into serious consideration," Bizos said.

Bizos called for the Scorpions' mandate to be amended instead. This should be aimed at improving its relations with other crime-fighting structures.

The commission was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki in March to advise him on the future of the Scorpions.

The hearings will continue on Thursday.

- SAPA