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It is now abundantly clear that the Hawks were not responsible for three sets of arrests last week - which the Police Ministry continues to claim, quite disingenuously, can be attributed to them. It is also plain for all to see that this was part and parcel of a public relations campaign which went badly awry. Now we need to establish just how long South Africa will have to wait for the Hawks to become operational, bearing in mind that 288 major cases are on hold while the vetting process takes place.

In a bid to establish where we are in the vetting process, I will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, requesting that relevant police officials are called to the committee to account for the fact that the so-called smooth transition between the Scorpions and Hawks now appears to have hit the rocks.

Last month, Police Ministry spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi stated quite categorically that the vetting process was "on course", but admitted that "a huge number of almost 800 people" still had to undergo that process. The fact that Police spokesperson Dennis Adriao has confirmed that not a single one of these members has been vetted and inducted into the Hawks unit indicates that this process may take a very long time indeed.

All of this is further evidenced by the fact that inordinate delays in the vetting of members of Parliament's intelligence committee saw MPs placed in the bizarre situation of having to make budget speeches despite never having met in the committee. The understaffed and inefficient National Intelligence Agency, which was responsible for those delays, is also responsible for vetting the Hawks personnel.