Hawks (South Africa)
| Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | DPCI |
The logo for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation otherwise known as "The Hawks".
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 2008 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Pretoria, South Africa |
| Agency executive | Major-General Berning Ntlemeza, National Head |
| Website | |
| DPCI | |
The Hawks are South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) which targets organized crime, economic crime, corruption, and other serious crime referred to it by the President or the South African Police Service (SAPS) setup by the Zuma administration in 2008. The DPCI replaced the Scorpions (South Africa) which was independent of the SAPS structures.
The decision to replace the Scorpions with a new organisation (The Hawks) came from a resolution taken by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at the 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress in 2007 in Polokwane, Limpopo. The ANC argued that government oversight was needed in such a body so as to avoid the agency being used as a political tool to investigate politicians. This followed from a power struggle between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma that resulted in an investigation into Zuma's involvement in the arms deal.
The DPCI was established as an independent directorate within the SAPS in terms of Section 17C of the South Africa Police Services Act, 1995 as amended by the South African Police Service Amendment Act, 2008 (Act 57 of 2008).
Certain provisions of the Act were found to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of South Africa in March 2011 in Glenister v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others. As a result, the Act was amended by Parliament in September 2012. Sections of the amended Act were themselves found to be invalid and deleted by the Constitutional Court in November 2014 in the Helen Suzman Foundation v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others; Glenister v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others. Following the judgement President Zuma reiterated his support for keeping the unit under the control of SAPS and thereby also under the contol of executive government.
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