Scorpions (South Africa)

The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), commonly known as the Scorpions, was a specialised unit of the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa formed by President Thabo Mbeki, tasked with investigating and prosecuting high-level and priority crimes including organised crime and corruption. An independent and multidisciplinary unit with a unique methodology which combined investigation, forensic intelligence, and prosecution, the Scorpions were known as an elite unit, and were involved in several extremely high-profile investigations, especially into the Arms Deal and into high-ranking African National Congress (ANC) politicians including Jackie Selebi, Jacob Zuma, and Tony Yengeni.

President Thabo Mbeki announced the establishment of the Scorpions in June 1999, promising "a special and adequately staffed and equipped investigative unit... to deal with all national priority crime, including police corruption." Though formally launched in Gugulethu on 1 September 1999 as the Directorate of Special Investigations, the unit did not legally or operationally come into existence until January 2001, by which time it had been renamed DSO. It was formally disbanded in January 2009 and replaced by the Hawks, a move pushed through Parliament by the ANC and often alleged to have been politically motivated.