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Viewing cable 08CAPETOWN217, SCORPIONS TO BE DISMANTLED

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08CAPETOWN217 2008-10-29 08:25 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Cape Town
VZCZCXRO1321
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0217 3030825
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290825Z OCT 08 CTG HSD 0177W ZDF ZDK
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2861
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6220
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3178
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2041
UNCLAS CAPE TOWN 000217 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y  PARA MARKING SBU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SF
SUBJECT:  SCORPIONS TO BE DISMANTLED 
 
1. (SBU) On October 20, the African National Congress (ANC) pushed 
through legislation to dissolve the Directorate of  Public 
Prosecutions and amend the South African Police Services Bill. The 
October 20 meeting of Parliament's safety and security and justice 
committees was a joint meeting of the two committees.  Despite 
appeals from opposition MPs for voting on the two Bills to be 
postponed so as to allow for more consultation within parties to 
decide if the Scorpions should be disbanded, ANC MPs steamed ahead, 
endorsing the legislation by twelve votes to six.  Even with three 
of the strongest opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance (DA), 
the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and the Inkatha 
Freedom party (IFP) against disbanding the Scorpions, the ANC used 
their power as the majority party in Parliament to approve two 
pieces of legislation, the South African Police Services Amendment 
Bill and the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill.  On 
October 23, the National Assembly formally voted on these two bills 
and the ANC used its overwhelming majority to push through the 
legislation 252 to 63. The legislation will be reviewed by the 
National Council of Provinces, but that is likely to be a mere 
formality. 
 
2. (U) Opposition parties were unanimous in their criticism of the 
speed in which the bills were passed.  In the October 21 edition of 
the Cape Argus, ANC MP Bulelani Magwanishe said opposition parties 
had sufficient time to discuss their position and that no amount of 
time would change the fact that parties were opposed to the 
legislation.  DA MP Tertius Delport described the two pieces of 
legislation as "bad bills" which had nothing to do with increasing 
the country's capability to fight crime. 
 
3.  (U) The Scorpions will be replaced by the Directorate of 
Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), who will be responsible for 
organized crime investigations, but will come under the auspices of 
the South African Police Service (SAPS) instead of operating 
autonomously as the Scorpions did.  The new DPCI will fall under 
SAPS which has a very low rate of bringing cases to trial in 
contrast to the Scorpions which have a 94 percent conviction rate. 
 
 
4. (U) Comment.  A perception exists among the South African public 
and press that the Scorpions are being disbanded because they have 
been successful in prosecuting senior ANC members.  In 2008, the 
Scorpions investigated ANC President Jacob Zuma for corruption, 
however, the case was dismissed on technical grounds.  The 
investigation against Zuma resulted in increased pressure by the ANC 
to disband the Scorpions and in fact, to discredit the entire 
judicial system. Additionally, the move sends a negative message to 
both the international and domestic community that the South African 
Government is not serious about clamping down on organized crime. 
There are also serious doubts whether some high priority cases will 
continue now that the Scorpions have been disbanded. End comment.