Managing security sure can be a tricky business. What happens when you have to investigate in places that are sensitive or politically tricky? There is no perfect answer. Consider the situation of a South African group called the Scorpions that was created in 1999 and charged with fighting organized crime and corruption:
Earlier this month, a court provisionally charged the former police chief with corruption, accepting bribes worth 1.2m rand ($160,000, £80,000) and defeating the course of justice, after investigations by the Scorpions.
Two problems jump out here:
- The group is relatively new, so their political support base will not be strong. People may not even know how much strength or legitimacy they have in their message
- They are old enough to be past their “honeymoon” period and on their own in terms of building credibility and independence
Combine those two and you end up with a tricky situation, especially when they are going after a former police chief.
South Africa’s security minister has tabled a proposal in parliament calling for the FBI-style Scorpions special investigations unit to be disbanded.
This row over the right level of independence needed for security investigations will be an interesting one to watch.