Advocate Andrea Johnson has resigned as head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), saying sustained attacks against her and the controversy surrounding her leadership have become a reputational risk to both the anti-corruption unit and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
In a resignation letter addressed to National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi and President Cyril Ramaphosa, Johnson requested to be released from office immediately, asking that her contractual three-month notice period be waived.
“This is a difficult request to make given the absolute love and commitment I have had for the position of being the Investigating Director of IDAC,” she wrote.
Johnson said the past five months had been particularly challenging and that attacks on both her personally and in her official capacity had been “unprecedented”.
She said much of the criticism stemmed from cases IDAC had pursued involving officials in the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence division.
“The attacks, in all its forms, has brought an extreme amount of negative attention not just to me, but to IDAC and the NPA,” she wrote.
“I cannot be the reason that there is so much negative attention and reputational risk to IDAC and the NPA.”
Johnson acknowledged that the allegations against her had yet to be proven but said any inquiry into her fitness to hold office would be costly and time-consuming.
“The country cannot afford another commission,” she wrote, adding that South Africa remained under Financial Action Task Force (FATF) scrutiny and that IDAC played a pivotal role in the country’s efforts to combat corruption.
She also revealed that she had already applied for retirement, having reached the age of 55, but feared that process could become the subject of legal challenges involving both the Presidency and the NDPP.
Instead, she requested that her resignation take effect within 24 hours by agreement.
“The NPA and IDAC must and will always come first and I believe that this resignation in the manner proposed would serve the institutions and the country best,” Johnson wrote.
She thanked Ramaphosa for the opportunity to lead IDAC and said she remained indebted to the President, the country and the NPA after 30 years of service.
Johnson’s resignation comes after weeks of mounting pressure over her testimony before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, where she faced sustained questioning over IDAC’s investigations into senior Crime Intelligence officials and allegations relating to her own conduct.
During her appearance, Johnson made a series of concessions under cross-examination. She withdrew her earlier description of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele’s appointment as a “token appointment”, apologising after admitting she had not reviewed Mokwele’s qualifications before making the claim. She also acknowledged that IDAC had no legal basis to investigate Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo in one matter and conceded the unit should not have solicited complaints from members of the public to initiate an investigation.
The controversy prompted the Office of the IDAC Oversight Judge to confirm earlier this week that it had received complaints against Johnson. The office stressed that the existence of complaints does not amount to findings of wrongdoing, but said they would form part of its investigative process.
Pressure on Johnson intensified further on Saturday after Public Interest SA and Brigadier Mokwele lodged formal complaints with the Legal Practice Council and the IDAC Ombud respectively, arguing that her testimony before the commission warranted investigation.
Earlier this month, President Ramaphosa said he was closely monitoring developments at IDAC amid growing speculation over Johnson’s future, while legal experts warned that the controversy risked undermining public confidence in one of the country’s key anti-corruption institutions.
At the time of publication, neither the Presidency nor the NPA had announced whether Johnson’s request for an immediate release from office had been accepted.
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