Calls for a Scorpions 2.0 mounts

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently received the close-out report from the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, which renewed its call for a permanent, independent, overarching anti-corruption body.

The president said that the council’s recommendations would be attended to without undue delay, and has since announced that he will adopt the plan to establish this body.

Some members of parliament, however, are skeptical about the president’s announcement, concerned that the new institution will not be as effective as the Scorpions corruption unit that was disbanded in 2008. 

The Scorpions, or the Directorate of Special Operations, was established by former President Thabo Mbeki in 1999 to address all national priority crimes, including corruption. 

The unit consisted of 536 staff members, comprising high performers from the police, as well as financial, forensic, and intelligence experts.

It had the authority to carry out criminal proceedings and refer cases to court.

The Scorpions’ success in high-profile cases built up public trust in their ability to combat organised crime.

By February 2004, the Scorpions had made 349 convictions, with a conviction rate of 93.1%.

In 2001, the Scorpions investigated an arms deal that uncovered irregularities in the award of tenders by the Department of Defense. 

Among those who benefited from the irregular deals was then-deputy president Jacob Zuma’s financial advisor, Schabir Shaik.

The investigation that followed resulted in Mbeki dismissing Zuma as deputy president. Criticism then began to mount over the unit from this high-profile case. 

In December 2007, at the ANC’s annual conference, the party resolved to incorporate the Scorpions into the South African Police Service (SAPS). 

The dissolution of the unit in 2008 was widely criticised by opposition parties and business sectors, who argued that this would severely compromise the state’s ability to counter corruption. 

The DA accused the ANC of merging the Scorpions with the SAPS to prevent investigations into the police and protect corrupt ANC officials. 

Following the disbanding of the Scorpions and the beginning of Zuma’s tenure as president, corruption infiltrated several aspects of government unchecked, as revealed by the Zondo Commission. 

New anti-corruption unit “already overdue”

While the country still has the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), established in 1996 by President Nelson Mandela, this organisation is constrained by legislation.

The SIU has recovered billions in public funds and exposed major corruption networks through referrals to the NPA.

The SIU, unlike the Scorpions, does not have automatic investigative powers and can only act on proclamations from the president.

“The SIU is a powerful tool, but its dependence on presidential proclamations means it’s only as independent as the political will behind it,” said Political Analyst Ralph Mathekga in a 2021 eNCA interview.

There is, therefore, always a risk that politically inconvenient cases are sidelined.

Additionally, unlike the Scorpions, the SIU’s findings are not binding. It can only recommend disciplinary action to the relevant authorities. The adoption of these recommendations has been intermittent.

Most recently, it was revealed in parliament that the SIU recommended that 467 individuals and companies be added to the Treasury’s Restricted Suppliers Register.

More than a year after these recommendations were made, only one has been blacklisted.

In the same presidency briefing, it was revealed that the SIU made 1,278 disciplinary recommendations, but this resulted in only 44 dismissals.

The unit is also constrained by a lack of funding and staff, which affects both the speed and quality of their work.

More than needed

Ramaphosa, inheriting a situation of state capture, established the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council in 2022.

The council includes members of parliament, business, and academia. Following three years of the council’s work, the researchers indicate a need to establish a similar unit to that of the Scorpions. 

NACAC recommended establishing an Office of Public Integrity and Anti-Corruption, which will have the power to pursue investigations, summon witnesses, access classified materials, and seize evidence. 

“Its recommendations arising from audits and investigations should be binding,” NECAC said, “and enforceable by court order.”

The council recommended entrenching this unit as a Chapter 9 institution, protecting it from suffering the same fate as the Scorpions by requiring a two-thirds majority in parliament to disband it. 

“The establishment of a permanent anti-corruption body is urgent,” NACAC said. The council estimates it will take up to two years to establish this body; therefore, this is “already overdue.”. 

Despite the fact that Ramaphosa’s recent commitment to establishing this unit means it will only be effective around 2027, Deputy President of ActionSA, Dr. Mbahare Kekana, said he has serious reservations about this process.

“Nothing the ANC has done in the past 31 years, including the decommissioning of the well-functioning Scorpions, was done in the best interest of South Africa,” he said. 

He added that many suspected criminals who have aided, abetted, and benefited from corruption have come from the ANC. 

“We have no reason to believe that they will not continue to be shielded if the ANC dictates the terms of reference for the proposed establishment of a new anti-corruption body.”

The DA has been calling for a reestablishment of the Scorpions since 2023, arguing that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has shown a failure to prosecute those responsible for organised crime and corruption. 

“The NPA has failed to secure a single successful prosecution of a politically connected figure implicated in state capture,” said Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Spokesperson for Justice and Constitutional Development. 

“Cases like the Vrede Dairy scandal, the Zizi Kodwa debacle, and the Transnet corruption trial have all collapsed due to incompetence, poor preparation, or basic procedural errors.”