SOUTH AFRICA: President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet has decided against dismantling South Africa's controversial anti-corruption bureau on the recommendation of an official report into the matter.
The Scorpions anti-fraud unit had come under fire from sections of the ruling African National Congress for the manner in which it has handled investigations into former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Calls had been made for the bureau, officially known as the Directorate of Special Operations, to be brought under the control of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
However, a commission headed by Judge Sisi Khampepe said the Scorpions should remain under the wing of the justice ministry, albeit with oversight responsibility shifting to the minister of safety and security.
The decision removes a doubt over the future of the elite force, which was established by Mr Mbeki in 1999 as part of a personal crusade against crime and corruption. Factions in the ANC aligned to Mr Zuma have claimed that the Scorpions had been used to silence the president's political opponents.
The directorate has also fallen foul of the judiciary, with a high court judge last February ordering that it return to Mr Zuma various documents seized from him during a surprise raid on his home.
Welcoming yesterday's decision, Stefan Grobler, a board member of Transparency International's South Africa branch, said the Scorpions had proven themselves to be "fearless" in combating high-level fraud.
"This report goes a long way to vindicate the Scorpions and their existence," Mr Grobler said. "If you look at past history, any investigation that has had something to do with corruption has been dismantled by the SAPS. So we welcome the decision to keep the Scorpions in the NPA [ National Prosecuting Authority]."
Mr Grobler, a former police commander who was involved in pioneering anti-corruption initiatives in the force, said the decision not to dismantle the unit would also boost morale in the Scorpions by lifting "the sword of Damocles" which had been hanging over their heads.
The SAPS had previously closed down its anti-corruption wing and the Scorpions could have faced a similar fate had they been placed under the police force's remit, he noted.
The commission, appointed by Mr Mbeki last year, found that the operation of the Scorpions was not in conflict with the constitution. It did, however, criticise the manner in which the directorate publicised the subject matter of some of its investigations.
Accepting the report's key recommendations, the cabinet said the Scorpions would continue to receive instructions and to be accountable to the director of public prosecutions, thereby remaining independent of both political and police interference.