The ANC's about-turn on the unit is about to come under scrutiny.

The ANC is poised to pluck the sting from the Scorpions in a move that no one outside the party believes is unconnected to the elite crime-busters' many successes in fighting corruption and dishonesty, including several cases involving politicians and party loyalists within the heart of the ANC itself.

But there may be some embarrassed scuttling during the mandatory public hearing and parliamentary debate that must accompany the required legislative changes - the Scorpions are currently constituted in terms of their own dedicated act - as past statements, explanations and justifications come back to haunt the ANC.

In a recent interview with a weekly newspaper, newly elected ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa said police had to account to Parliament and that this would constitute an adequate system of checks and balances to the abuse of power.

"Why do we need people running around investigating one another? In many countries people don't have (institutions such as) the Scorpions. Why should we?" he was quoted as asking rhetorically.

"They are just a growth from the system which we need to cut out."

But in fact the Scorpions were constituted after the ANC government itself had made a careful study of policing systems in other countries. This was made clear by Fatima Chohan-Kota, then chairwoman of the portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development, during a debate in the National Assembly on November 11, 1999, on the "role and control over the Scorpions".

She pointed out that her committee had undertaken a visit to the United States and Canada to study, "among other things", th60eir crime-fighting structures and institutions.

"What we learnt was that the experiences of these countries have taught them that the multi-pronged task-team concept, which is prosecutorially driven, is in fact the most successful method in combating organised crime…

"The prosecution-driven investigation, as it is called, has not only been successfully implemented in the US and Canada, but is also being employed in Germany and Britain under the intelligence services there.

"What has made these structures so successful is not just the integrated manner in which they are constituted, nor the fact that they are prosecutorially driven, but the simple fact that they measure up, both in terms of resources and sophistication, to the criminals they are aiming to defeat.

"So we looked at what worked in other countries, took that blueprint and manoeuvred it a bit to come up with the Investigating Directorates in the Office of the National Director of Prosecutions."

One of the first two such directorates to be established was the Investigation Directorate on Organised Crime, or Idoc, which subsequently became the Directorate of Special Operations Directorate, or Scorpions.

When President Thabo Mbeki had announced the formation of the Scorpions during his State of the Nation Address two years previously, in June 1999, and launched the unit at a function in Gugulethu three months later, he said it was "a signal of our commitment" to deal with priority crimes.

"I am privileged to announce that a special and adequately staffed and equipped investigation unit will be established urgently to deal with all national priority crimes, including police corruption."

By the 2001 debate, Chohan-Kota was able to list a string of early successes for the Scorpions that included the arrest of more than 23 "hit men" involved in drive-by shootings, murders and bombings in the Western Cape; more than 30 arrests in connection with the "horrific" massacres in KwaZulu-Natal; having "descended" on taxi industry gangsters in the Eastern Cape and arrested 20 people; and having bust an average of one hijacking syndicate in Gauteng a month.

"All of these cases have been fast-tracked. I have in my possession a report from the Justice Assistance Bureau that says that it now takes a third of the time to finalise these complex cases than it did in 1997," she said.

"Another element that has also proved indispensable in other countries is that of integrity management.

"When dealing with syndicates, to whom money is no object, it is quite easy for bribery and corruption to creep in. With a smaller unit, one is able to manage this by setting out higher entry-level tests…

"…there are very cogent reasons for us to have a unit such as the Scorpions in our democracy, not least of which is to act as a buffer between serious criminals and our vulnerable societies.

"I agree that accountability must be engendered. I just do not agree that we do not have it now."

Ironically, during the 1999 debate, now ANC Cabinet member and then New National Party (NNP) leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk was pilloried by the ANC for raising what he described as "serious questions" and "a number of dangerous pitfalls" about the establishment of the new law enforcement agency - although this debate took place before the special Scorpions Bill that was subsequently introduced and approved by Parliament in October the following year to give the unit a statutory mandate.

While the NNP was obviously in favour of moves to fight crime, the Constitution stated explicitly there should be only one police force, Van Schalkwyk argued.

"Some Government sources are quoted as saying that the Scorpions will be a parallel police force. Nothing can be more dangerous to a young democracy than a parallel police force shrouded in secrecy, where broad powers exist to invade privacy…

"The reality is that the way the Scorpions has been explained to us up to now has all the ingredients to produce the same invasion of privacy and the abuse of power that was experienced (as a result of the FBI) in the (J Edgar) Hoover era.

"It could become a crude instrument to enforce the will of politicians and Public Service insiders with their own political agendas."

But then Justice and Constitutional Minister Penuell Maduna climbed into Van Schalkwyk, suggesting he should have spoken out similarly "when his party established the Bureau for State Security, Boss".

Pointing out to applause and interjections that the Scorpions had just the previous day arrested eight policemen on car hijacking charges, Maduna said the intention of establishing the Scorpions was "indeed to reinforce, complement and supplement the efforts of existing law-enforcement agencies in the arduous fight against crime".

"There is no intention of stopping the Scorpions in their tracks…

"I need to reiterate that the mandate of the Directorate of Special Operations is not to replace the SA Police Service. We are setting the Scorpions up to deal with offences such as vehicle hijacking, offences related to possession of or trading in arms and ammunition, serious economic offences or serious commercial crime, organised and syndicated crime, corruption in the criminal justice system, and crimes against the state…

"The criminal element should be the only ones who worry about the Scorpions."

Van Schalkwyk was also ridiculed by Mbulelo Goniwe, later to become the ANC's chief whip before his subsequent fall from grace, who said the establishment of the Scorpions unit was "part of a holistic, integrated approach to fight crime, restore order and bring back stability in society".

"Surely we all realise that the levels of crime in our country are too high? The kinds of crime and type of criminal that we are facing today are complex and sophisticated…

"While recognising and commending the dedication and commitment of the SAPS, the creation of this specialised unit fills a particular need in our force make-up to deal effectively with the present-day criminal.

"The nature of crime employed today largely outmanoeuvres the ordinary policing skills which were imparted to our police; hence the need for a specialised unit like the Scorpions."

The last speaker in the debate was the then-safety and security minister, the late Steve Tshwete, who said there was a crime crisis in the country, "whether we like it or not".

"We are fighting against operational syndicates in this country which are very highly organised and very sophisticated, and we cannot say that it is the exclusive responsibility of the ordinary SA Police Service with conventional policing methods.

"We need a crack unit that has to be accountable to this Parliament, and that is beyond question."

In her second budget speech as minister in May 2005, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla reported that the Scorpions "continues to position itself as an elite crime-fighting agency through the exploitation of key partnerships and co-operations" and that its conviction rate for the previous financial year had been 93%.

In an interview in a weekend newspaper this week, acting NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe said the Scorpions' current success rate was "89% or even 90%".

Last week, DA leader Helen Zille said she had written to Mabandla, asking her to explain why the Scorpions were being disbanded - particularly since the unit had made nearly 2 000 arrests, finalised some 1 300 investigations and seized contraband worth R1 billion.

"There has not yet been any clear answer from the government as to why collapsing an effective corruption-fighting unit into the SA Police Service is in the public interest."

The DA, which is to release a discussion document today setting out the case for retaining the Scorpions within the National Prosecuting Authority, wants the minister to explain:

Why disbanding the Scorpions is deemed to be in the public interest and how this will assist the government to combat corruption.

Why the government is doing an about-turn on the 2006 Cabinet decision, reaffirmed by the President in his 2007 State of the Nation Address, to endorse the Khampepe Commission's recommendation to retain the Scorpions within the National Prosecuting Authority.

What will happen to cases that are currently being investigated by the Scorpions, particularly those involving members of the police?

With acknowledgements to John Yeld and Cape Argus.