Beleaguered Andrea Johnson set to resign
The IDAC head faces the possibility of suspension amid allegations of conflict
Qaanitah Hunter
The head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, Advocate Andrea Johnson, has indicated her intention to resign after it was recommended that she step aside, well-placed sources have confirmed.
It is understood that President Cyril Ramaphosa was considering instituting an inquiry into her fitness to hold office, even before she was scheduled to appear before the Madlanga Commission on Monday.
It was recommended that Johnson be suspended in the interim, given the litany of allegations she and IDAC have faced under her leadership, and to give her an opportunity to clear her name.
Johnson has since indicated a willingness to resign on 1 August, subject to a three-month notice period, according to well-placed sources.
However, it is understood that her proposed resignation was not immediately accepted.
She was subsequently hospitalised ahead of her scheduled appearance before the Madlanga Commission on Monday.
The president has not formally received or accepted her resignation.
Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya says he can’t comment on the matter.
Under Johnson’s leadership, IDAC has come under fire over its arrests of Crime Intelligence officials, as well as accusations that the directorate undermined police investigations.
There are also concerns about whether certain prosecutions were selective, while alarm bells have been raised over the unit’s dealings with Crime Intelligence.
Further allegations include possible interference in sensitive police cases and concerns about relationships between senior IDAC officials and Crime Intelligence personnel.
Johnson’s husband, Junaid Johnson, works in Crime Intelligence at the rank of brigadier.
During parliamentary testimony, Johnson acknowledged that she had participated in an interview and selection process involving him during the Scorpions era.
She said that, in hindsight, she should have fully recused herself.
The Madlanga Commission has also heard allegations concerning Johnson’s role in an assault investigation involving suspended Crime Intelligence Major-General Feroz Khan.
A retired Hawks investigator reportedly testified that he had been told Johnson instructed investigators not to pursue certain aspects of the case.
Another witness alleged that Johnson contacted, or sought information from, a person connected to the complaint.
Just based solely on Colonel Padayachee’s testimony it looks like we have an anti-corruption unit that centralizes power so heavily that subordinates stop asking hard questions, because it has created an echo chamber. Under Advocate Andrea Johnson, this micromanaged approach has backfired spectacularly in an open commission yesterday. By not allowing investigators the room to critically challenge their own cases before going to court, IDAC has repeatedly marched into high-profile arrests with dockets built entirely on sand.
Instead of protecting the unit, this extreme centralization has left this specific investigator completely exposed on the stand, unable to defend the very legal logic of their own operations.
By centralizing the decision-making process, senior leadership could ensure that no junior investigator could independently look at the Khumalo docket and say, "Wait, there's no evidence here," and no honest prosecutor could inadvertently move forward against Khan without the top brass knowing first.
If this is what was happening, IDAC wasn't just failing to do its job. It was actively being used as an institutional weapon to clear the field for a specific cabal within Crime Intelligence by removing the top cops who refused to play ball.