Government has no intention to dissolve the Scorpions special investigative agency, according to a cabinet statement.

Spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said cabinet noted "current debates" around the role and future of the investigative unit, the Scorpions, in the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

"It reiterated the statement by the president (Thabo Mbeki) that there was no intention on the part of government to dissolve the Scorpions, precisely because the reasons that led to the setting up of the unit still remain."

"Matters pertaining to the rationalisation and clear definition of mandates between the Scorpions and Saps, or any structural tension, will continue to be processed by both the Scorpions and Saps as well as relevant ministers, with the aim of building effective, efficient and integrated instruments to deal with the scourge of crime."

Mbeki has made the comment that one of the proposals is that the unit falls under the police - and thus the safety and security minister - rather than under the justice department.

He was speaking in the context of the current Scorpion investigation of Deputy President Jacob Zuma for allegedly accepting a bribe from an arms deal company.

With acknowledgements to INet Bridge and the Business Day.