DA urges Committee to recall Simelane

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has confirmed that the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU) remains decapitated and disbanded precisely as proposed by Adv Menzi Simelane in the Strategic Plan, which he placed before the Justice Committee on 13 April and which we reported to the Justice Minister a week later. The Minister stated in his Budget Speech last week that "the units under the NPA remain the key pillars in the fight against crime and corruption".  But in fact all staff remain assigned to the provincial Directors of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and no longer to the Special Directorate to which they were specifically appointed to perform specific duties and functions. We continue to believe (as we said in the budget debate) that this is ultra vires the NPA Act, and that a snakes and ladders game played with the careers of the prosecutors also infringes their labour rights and the public service guidelines on restructuring.

We think Adv Simelane knows this too, but it seems that he will stop at nothing to get his way. We are shocked to learn the following from the Public Servants' Association's Informus dated 28 April 2010:

"On the allegations of the restructuring of the SCCU the employer reported that the Head of the Specialised Unit is the only person that is affected by the process and the chamber does not have jurisdiction over the SMS member. It was also reported that the changes were effected OWING TO THE RETIREMENT OF THE SMS MEMBER the unit is reporting to. The employer believed the regions are capable to deal with the matter directly instead of reporting on it to an SMS member at Head Office. They are also of the view THAT IT IS FUTILE TO HAVE LITTLE SPECIAL UNITS when the region can deal with it directly..." [emphasis added]

Adv Chris Jordaan is NOT RETIRING.

The false statement that our best corruption buster has retired cannot be allowed to pass, nor can the disbandment of the SCCU. We have asked the Justice Committee to recall Adv Simelane and the National Prosecuting Authority for a new strategic plan, and have undertaken to put the relevant copy of Informus as well as certain other documentation before our colleagues.

Statement issued by Dene Smuts, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of justice and constitutional development, May 11 2010

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