JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — South African President Thabo Mbeki decided to disband an elite crime-fighting unit against an official recommendation to keep it operating, documents released Monday said.
A 144-page report compiled after a 2006 inquiry into the Directorate of Special Operatioins, or Scorpions, was made public Monday and found the existence of the FBI-style unit was "as valid today as it was at conception".
The Khampepe Commission report, released by the government, found the Scorpions (also known as the Directorate of Special Operations) still had "a place in the government's law enforcement plan."
"Despite indications that crime levels are dropping, it is my considered view that organised crime still presents a threat that needs to be addressed through an effective comprehensive strategy," SAPA news agency quoted the report as saying.
"The argument that the rationale no longer holds since the levels of crime are showing a decline is therefore devoid of merit.
Mbeki in 2005 commissioned Judge Sisi Khampepe to look into the unit, whose prosecutor-led investigations have made inroads into organised crime in the country while its tactics have been criticised.
Falling under the Justice Ministry as opposed to the Security Ministry alongside the police, a turf war erupted between the unit and the police.
The unit's existence took on a political element as it investigated high profile politicians such as new African National Congress president Jacob Zum who has been charged with corruption.
The ANC in January moved to disband the unit, relocating its role to the police under the Justice Ministry, after it was accused of abuse of power in its investigations of Zuma and national police chief Jackie Selebi.
Last week, the South African cabinet approved two bills to disband the Scorpions.
The Scorpions have also taken on senior politicians such as former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni who was jailed in 2006 for fraud and several dozen lawmakers found guilty of taxpayer fraud in a multi-million rand travel voucher scam.
The move to disband the Scorpions has caused an outcry from some politicians.
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