Johannesburg - Johannesburg businessman Hugh Glenister says he has taken up the cudgels on behalf of ordinary South Africans in his fight against the government over its decision to dissolve the Scorpions because he believes people must be given the freedom to express themselves.
Glenister is relentless in his mission: he has been to the Pretoria high court, and lost, and recently went to the constitutional court. Judgment was reserved until a later date. Now he has his sights on parliament and is ready to pounce should it allow certain MPs to vote on two bills before it.
Glenister admits that he has had to dig deep into his pockets to fund his legal skirmishes. He says he originally budgeted only R500 000 but costs have soared to R2.5 million so far. The issue being contested is the government's decision to disband the Directorate of Special Operations, or the Scorpions, as they are popularly called.
The plan is that the Scorpions will later be reincarnated as a division of the SA Police Service, albeit with limited powers and functions.
After reaching this decision, the government followed it up by placing two bills before parliament to facilitate the transfer process. Glenister, a civil activist, refused to take this lying down and sought support from the courts.
But why should a businessman, who is running what can at best be called a medium-sized enterprise, spend so much of his money on such litigation, especially when the rest of the country's populace is not exactly showing itself to be keen in contributing to the kitty?
"I will tell you in 10 years time," says Glenister. "I am not a technician, I am a strategist. I have been funding this alone, with support from friends and shareholders," he says.
He has been running his company, Roland, of which he is the managing director, for 21 years. It supplies machinery for jewellery making and screen printing. With an annual turnover of almost R100 million and 35 employees, Glenister says Roland has a footprint in most African countries, where it has dealer channels.
Roland has been nominated for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. This global award is the most prestigious business accolade for entrepreneurs. It celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing, and dynamic businesses. The award recognises entrepreneurs through global, regional and national programmes in more than 30 countries.
The winner of the award in 2006 was a South African: the late Bill Lynch, the former chief executive of Imperial Holdings.
On why he is going to such lengths on the Scorpions issue, Glenister says: "We have been very quiet and complacent for a long time. We have to make the government accountable. If we give it money, we must know how it is going to spend it.
"Before 1994 we challenged the apartheid government. And now we are back to square one, where the government is abusing its citizens. It does not care about people in the street. We want this to be the best country in the world."
Glenister speaks highly of the Scorpions, saying it is the only independent group left to check on the politicians. It has also been very efficient in fighting organised crime.
"Take them away, you become like Russia," he says.
He disputes claims that the unit is full of rotten apples who were apartheid security police. Glenister refers to a statement by Willie Hofmeyr, the head of the Special Investigations Unit, who said this week that only nine Scorpions operatives were from that era.
Glenister is ready to battle it out with parliament, vowing to go to the Cape high court if need be. He wants all the MPs who were investigated by the Scorpions in the Travelgate scandal to be barred from voting on the two bills because he does not believe they will be neutral or objective.