A commission is to look into the future of the Scorpions, the crime-fighting unit which has been at the centre of several controversies in recent months.

The unit was established to bolster the crime-fighting ability of the state by establishing a new approach to the investigation and prosecution of serious, high-profile criminals.

Unlike the police, its investigators work hand in glove with prosecutors in an effort to secure evidence chains against the resources and considerable guile of such criminals.

President Thabo Mbeki's decision to appoint a commission to look into the future of the crime-fighting unit must help it to fulfil this mission.

The Scorpions have had many successes but also some failures, and the unit has become the subject of a political tug-of-war as a consequence of its decision to investigate (and in some cases, successfully prosecute) high-profile political figures.

What the commission ought to look at is how the Scorpions can become the high-powered investigating unit envisaged at the outset by bolstering its crime-fighting resources.

But the commission will fail us all if it decides the unit ought to be disbanded. The wrong people will celebrate.

With acknowledgement to the Sunday Times.