South Africa - What future without the Scorpions?

Together, they provide for the dissolution of the NPA's Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), or 'Scorpions', and the establishment of a new anti-corruption unit within the SAPS.  At the time of writing, the government has yet to announce its timetable for a transition to the new unit.

As the nation's political parties unfurl their election manifestos and rally their bases, the DSO remains the focus of passionate, at times vituperative, debate on the boundaries of prosecutorial authority in the fight against public corruption.  Opposition parties continue to accuse the African National Congress (ANC) of dismantling the DSO to subvert investigations of corruption within the party's ranks, and have pledged to reinstate the unit if elected.  The ANC, for its part, has reiterated its assertion that the DSO vindictively targeted ANC members, overstepped its mandate, and used media leaks to tarnish the party's highest officials.