Madame Speaker,
Today reminds me of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941 when President Roosevelt described the Japanese attack as -"a day that will live on in infamy".
I predict that the same will be said about the murder of the Scorpions.
What is to happen today?
The majority party today merely wants this House to rubberstamp their Polokwane decision.
They want us to ignore the merits and outstanding successes of the Scorpions.
They want us to help them to cover up the truth -- the real truth about the Scorpions, namely that the Scorpions must die because they had dared to charge high profile ANC persons, such as the Police Commissioner and Mr Jacob Zuma.
Madame Speaker.
Right from the start it was crystal clear that --
Despite the ANC's poor window dressing explanations to the contrary;
Despite the many meetings of the Portfolio Committees and the many millions of words spoken there;
Despite the many public hearings --
It was abundantly clear right from the start that despite all this - a massive ANC charade was hidden, namely the ANC's real intention to simply enforce their majority rubber stamp on the people of South Africa and kill the Scorpions.
It is also clear after Polokwane who now really governs South Africa - the South African Communist Party.
The silent Polokwane Communist Coup is taking South Africa in a new and ominous direction --
Killing the Scorpions to prevent certain prosecutions;
Bringing back the Land Expropriation Bill and move towards a disastrous Zimbabwe situation in respect of land;
Create a small Super Cabinet so that only seven people effectively govern South Africa in the name of democracy.
No wonder the ANC has dramatically split and hundreds of thousands of former ANC supporters are streaming to the new party.
Madame Speaker,
The IFP participated in the legislative process in the hope that our contribution would limit the damage to our country's crime-fighting abilities.
Alas, we did not succeed.
In a nutshell, one characteristic of the Scorpions made them highly successful in fighting organised crime, namely, their independence and their location outside of the SAPS.
They could investigate and prosecute without fear or favour, and without political or other interference. In fact, the Scorpions did not hesitate to charge the Police Commissioner and the President-in-waiting.
That precious independence is now of course down the drain.
Madame Speaker,
The IFP has a number of strong objections to the legislation before the House and I will refer to only a few.
Number one: The National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill kills the Scorpions.
Number Two: The SAPS Amendment Bill creates the DPCI as just another Police division, taking instructions from the Commissioner.
In other words, the new unit will not be independent and could be subjected to interference from higher levels.
Number Three: The new division's budget is included in the Police budget.
Number Four: The bill does not guarantee that all Scorpion investigators will be selected for the new unit. Already, a number of highly skilled ones have resigned.
Number Five: There is no guarantee that the DSO would finalise the so-called "sensitive" investigations that it is currently conducting or which might be pending.
In conclusion
The decision to kill the Scorpions -
is reckless political expediency to protect ANC leaders and members from criminal investigation and possible prosecution.
The decision is the result of a Communist take-over of the ANC at Polokwane;
The Communist take-over is switching on many red lights for the future of this country and especially for democracy.
In the circumstances the IFP will not be a party to such gross abuse of the levers of power.
History will one day admit that today was a day to be remembered as a day that will live on in infamy.
We will therefore vote against these bills.
Thank you.
This is the text of the speech by Koos van der Merwe, MP, of the Inkatha Freedom Party, on the debate on the two Scorpions Bills, Parliament, October 23 2008
