CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The government on Thursday appointed an unknown police official to lead a new law enforcement unit in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world and has been rocked by corruption scandals
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The government on Thursday appointed an unknown police official to lead a new law enforcement unit in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world and has been rocked by corruption scandals. Anwa Dramat, currently deputy police chief in the Western Cape province, will become head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations when it starts up July 1. The new unit comes several months after the country’s governing African National Congress party decided to disband an elite investigating team known as the Scorpions following its graft probe into ANC leader Jacob Zuma, who has since become South Africa’s president. Critics accused Zuma’s party of pushing through legislation to disband the Scorpions out of vengeance and said it would be a disastrous setback for South Africa. The country is struggling to convince skeptics that it will be a safe venue for the 2010 World Cup despite a murder rate of more than 50 per day, and to prove to investors that it is serious about tackling pervasive corruption. Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa tried to allay the concerns, saying the new unit would "usher in a new chapter in the crime fighting ability of the South African law enforcement agency." Dramat, a former Robben Island political prisoner who was active in the underground resistance during apartheid, has little background with white-collar crime. His experience is from working in the crime-infested suburbs outside Cape Town known as the Cape Flats, which have among the highest murder rates in South Africa. He was involved in tackling Islamic militants who planted a series of bombs around Cape Town in the late 1990s and targeted moderate Muslims. Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said that Dramat was unknown outside police circles because he had spent much of his career in intelligence and said his low profile was precisely the reason for his success. But the choice of Dramat over better-known candidates will likely increase concern that the unit will have little clout. One of the main worries is that it is located within the police force, which is badly paid, demoralized and itself open to abuse. South Africa’s police chief Jackie Selebi is currently on paid leave of absence pending his trial on charges that he accepted bribes from a convicted drug smuggler and tried to protect him. Selebi has denied any wrongdoing. "Investigators will be selected, supervised and funded by the police, which could undermine the fight against corruption in the police service, as the police are unlikely to investigate themselves," said the opposition Democratic Alliance. Of the 221 special investigators in the Scorpions — which will be formally dissolved July 1 — some 137 have said they will switch to the new unit. More than 600 investigations being conducted by the Scorpions will be transferred to the new team. The Scorpions — which had a much higher conviction rate than the police — used to have relative independence in the justice ministry. They angered the ANC with their dogged pursuit of Zuma, who was accused of soliciting bribes in an arms scandal dating back to the late 1990s. Prosecutors lifted the last obstacle in Zuma’s path last month when they announced that they were dropping corruption charges against him, saying the case had been manipulated for political reasons and the criminal charges would never be revived. Zuma was inaugurated as head of state May 9. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.