Newly-appointed head of the priority crimes unit Anwar Dramat would have to make sure it was fearless in the fight against corruption, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday.

"His test will now be to ensure that the new unit acts without fear or favour when confronting any form of criminality, but most especially corruption," said DA police spokeswoman Dianne Kohler Barnard.

She was reacting to the announcement earlier on Thursday by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa that Dramat, a deputy police commissioner in the Western Cape and former ANC guerrilla, had been chosen to take charge of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.

The unit, which will fall under the police, will replace the Scorpions, which was housed in the National Prosecuting Authority.

Kohler Barnard said Dramat's major challenge would be to assert the autonomy of the unit, which had been considerably reduced by locating it in the police.

The DA still believed that a priority crime unit located in the justice department, such as the Scorpions, was a better model than in the police.

Cope spokesperson Philip Dexter said his party's problem was not with the individual in charge of the unit, but with where it was located.

Crying over the Scorpions

Dramat was clearly experienced, he said.

"But all along we've made it clear that the setting up of this structure was a mistake. They should have left the Scorpions intact."

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, a veteran in the struggle to expose arms deal corruption, said it was vital that the new unit operated from day one without any political interference.

She also said it would be a massive challenge for the unit to emulate the Scorpions' successes, which had been made possible by the fact that it enjoyed prosecutorial powers, which the new unit lacked.

"I'm still convinced that the conditions for which we established the Scorpions still exist," she said.

Dramat (41) has been in the police since the mid 90s, when he played key roles in combating Muslim extremist movement Pagad, taxi violence and gangsterism, but is relatively unknown outside police circles.

He is one of two deputy provincial commissioners in the Western Cape, with responsibility for visible policing and investigations, and also heads the SAPS' provincial "war room".

He was jailed on Robben Island after receiving a 12-year sentence in 1988 for participating in activities of the ANC's military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe.

Dramat "deeply humbled"

His name also emerged in Truth Commission hearings as a victim, along with Tony Yengeni and Ashley Forbes, of security police torturer Captain Jeff Benzien.

Mthethwa told journalists in Cape Town that Dramat had special expertise in the areas of crime intelligence and underground operative work "especially within the serious and violent crimes environment".

He said the new unit would focus on serious organised and commercial crime, and serious corruption.

In a brief prepared acceptance speech, Dramat said he was "deeply humbled and honoured" by the appointment.

"I commit myself to work for all South Africans to ensure that our country finally eradicates the scourge of fraud, corruption and organised crime," he said.

"The war against organised crime has been strengthened: the responsibility lies with all of us to ensure that there's no hiding space for criminals."

Cops are "very happy"

Acting national police commissioner Tim Williams said the police were "very happy" with Dramat's appointment.

"He can be sure that he will have the fullest co-operation from our management," he said.

Staff of the new directorate are to be drawn from the ranks of the police and the Scorpions.

Mthethwa said the Scorpions would formally cease to exist on 1 July, and the new unit would take over all 639 cases still on the Scorpions' books.

The ANC pushed through legislation to scrap the Scorpions after supporters of party president Jacob Zuma claimed the unit was being used to pursue a political vendetta against him.