When the tail loses its sting

Sunday Times Editorial:Many South Africans would agree with magistrate Deon Snyman's criticism of how the state handled the prosecution of alleged drug syndicate boss Stefanos Paparas, his father, Dimitrio, and driver Stanley Poonin.

Delivering judgment in the Germiston Magistrate's Court this week, Snyman slammed the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for the manner in which it had handled the case - giving "ridiculously lenient sentences to drug dealers" such as Glenn Agliotti, Christiaan Albias and Pedro Marques, who all escaped long prison terms by entering into deals with the now-defunct Scorpions.

"The sentence imposed on Agliotti (a 10-year jail sentence suspended for 10 years) is the most shocking. It gives credence to the idea that, in South Africa, you really can get away with dealing in drugs or fraud as long as you have enough money to pay," said the magistrate.

As a result of how the Scorpions and the NPA handled the case, Snyman said, he could not find conclusive evidence linking the three accused to drug-dealing activities.

And so three more people accused of serious crimes escape conviction after a high-profile Scorpions investigation that spanned over five years.

Critics of the anti-corruption unit have always maintained that the Scorpions were too ready to let Agliotti, the killers of controversial mining boss Brett Kebble and other underworld figures escape jail in return for former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi's head.

The Scorpions were right to probe the country's top cop when allegations emerged that he was involved in corrupt activities.

It is the manner in which they went about doing it - striking ridiculous deals with some of the most dangerous members of organised crime syndicates - that did not sit well with many.

Part of the problem was that the investigators were under severe political pressure from their bosses, who wanted Selebi prosecuted at all costs.

The fight against corruption received a major boost recently when the Constitutional Court ruled that a section of the act that did away with the Scorpions and replaced them with the Hawks was unlawful, as it did not guarantee the Hawks sufficient independence from political meddling.

Parliament will have to amend the act in the next 18 months to ensure that the country meets its constitutional and international obligations of having a truly independent anti-corruption unit that will be free of the kind of political interference that has resulted in alleged crime bosses getting away without being effectively prosecuted.

There is also an urgent need for the NPA's plea-bargaining mechanisms to be reviewed.