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Disbanding Scorpions 'sinister'
21/01/2008 17:30 - (SA)
Cape Town - The African National Congress was trying to protect its members from corruption charges by disbanding the Scorpions, opposition parties said on Monday.
The party had also given no justifiable reason as to why the corruption-busting unit should be dissolved, said the Democratic Alliance and the United Democratic Movement.
"In the absence of any understandable reason from the ANC as to why the Scorpions should be disbanded, one can only assume that the government is doing so to protect the ANC from any current and future corruption investigations," DA leader Helen Zille said in a statement.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said: "We are not blind to the fact that a disturbing amount of people who now think they control the ANC, and indeed the entire country, have pending cases against them or had previous brushes with the law."
Zille said that in addition to the seven "convicted criminals" on the ANC's National Executive Committee, six NEC members were currently the subject of criminal investigations.
The Scorpions were investigating at least two of these cases.
Deadline questioned
Ngoako Ramathlodi was being investigated by the Scorpions for allegedly being a secret shareholder in a company that received a multi-million rand tender from the Limpopo provincial government when he was premier of the province.
Another ANC NEC member Thaba Mufamadi, was being investigated by the Scorpions for receiving bribes in a social grants tender award.
"The view that the government is disbanding the Scorpions to protect ANC members is given further credence by the fact that the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, has announced that she will hurry the legislation through Parliament by June this year.
"This calls into question her ability to carry out her parliamentary role impartially while holding high political office in the ruling party," said Zille.
Holomisa questioned the deadline set by the African National Congress for the Directorate of Special Operations - or Scorpions - to be incorporated into the SA Police Service.
"Why, of all the pressing issues that face the nation, is the new ANC leadership obsessed with this one issue? The people of this country have been crying out for years upon years for the ANC to address unemployment, poverty and crime."
'Irresponsible' intention
The UDM called on President Thabo Mbeki's government to delay the decision about the future of the Scorpions until the election and allow voters to decide on the matter.
The ACDP views the ANC's intention to disband the Scorpions as "irresponsible" at a time when crime in the country is spiralling out of control, said Kenneth Meshoe, MP and President of the ACDP.
Meshoe said: "In our view, the Scorpions' success in exposing crime in high places is the very reason why the ANC wants to see it disbanded and that's the reason why the ACDP insists it should not be."
- SAPA
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