The Congress of South African Trade Unions congratulates the members of the National Assembly for passing the SA Police Service Amendment Bill and the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill yesterday and urges the National Council of Provinces to also pass these bills without delay.

COSATU has long been campaigning for the dissolution of the Directorate of Special Operations, better known as the Scorpions, in line with the resolutions passed by both the its 9th Congress and the ANC's Polokwane Conference and we applaud Parliament for its speedy response to the voice of the majority of the people as articulated in those resolutions.

The federation's view has been that the Scorpions became a separate 'elite' force which was not subject to adequate public accountability and became a law unto themselves. This led to individuals' rights being compromised, and Scorpions officers being diverted from the fight against crime to political campaigns against certain individuals. Their activities also contradicted the necessary separation of functions between investigating crime and prosecuting the criminals.

COSATU is 100% committed to the fight against crime, particularly organised crime, which the Scorpions were supposed to be targeting. We do not accept that this fight will be compromised by incorporating the Scorpions' staff into the new unit within the SAPS, and we shall be insisting that they step up the war on crime in a more co-ordinated way and do more to involve the communities and civil society.

COSATU will protest against any tendency to import the Scorpions' bad habits and political bias into the ranks of the SAPS, whose work we shall continue to monitor and when necessary criticise if there is any abuse of human rights by its officers.

Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, October 24 2008