Can Andy Mothibi turn the battered Independent Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) around?
The head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is promising a far-reaching shake-up of the institution. But it’s no simple task. As with the Scorpions before it, there’s been significant political interest in ensuring that Idac fails at its mandate: investigating high-profile, complex allegations of fraud, corruption, money-laundering and capture.
That pressure isn’t abating. On Friday, former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party submitted a private member’s bill to parliament to abolish the unit and refer all its cases to the Hawks and other police units. It’s no great surprise, given that his party and a large contingent of its senior leaders, including Zuma himself, have much to lose from a well-functioning, effective Idac.
On the other side of the aisle, DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach also wants to dissolve Idac. She’s looking to replace it with an anti-corruption commission that would function along the lines of a chapter 9 institution, such as the public protector.
Breytenbach has intimate knowledge and understanding of the NPA; she was among the country’s top prosecutors before joining the DA in 2014.
“The systemic failures now being exposed did not arise overnight. They flourished under the noses of the very leadership now proposing reforms,” she said in a statement last week.
“The entire organisation is irreparably tainted. No-one raised the alarm; no-one refused an illegal instruction. This is an organisation that cannot be rehabilitated.”
She has a point.
Evidence led before the Madlanga commission last week painted an alarming picture of the extent to which the institution was captured. Beleaguered Idac head Andrea Johnson’s own testimony was something of a bombshell. It exposed her as having abused Idac’s powerful mandate to play a debilitating role in internal factional battles in the police.
Then there was the testimony from Idac prosecutor Drushantha Ramsamy and senior investigator Mansa Robert Rapetsu. It suggested Johnson’s conduct during the investigation and charging of crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo and Dineo Mokwele (a mechatronics engineer he hired), and even her targeting of national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, was sinister and downright unlawful.
That Johnson dubbed the project targeting the heart of the police leadership “Project Diversion” is in itself an indication of the shadowy intent driving it.
Ramsamy’s evidence also linked Johnson to the targeting of the political killings task team (PKTT), and directly to suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu and his dodgy adviser Cedric Nkabinde. It closed the gap in the evidence that ties the crisis in the police back to the PKTT’s role in a December 2024 operation targeting key members of organised crime cartels.
It is a mess.
Guarding the guardians
Mothibi has committed to overhauling Idac in six months by auditing every single case the unit has undertaken since its inception, drawing in independent legal practitioners to strengthen these reviews. The case against Khumalo and Mokwele has already been withdrawn; Masemola’s case is under independent review.
The operations and structure of Idac will be reviewed and strengthened, staff vetting and lifestyle audits are on the cards, and vacancies will be filled. Three key Idac investigators — Dylan Perumal, Brian Padayachee and Suneel Bellochun — have already been suspended and are set to face disciplinary processes.
The most crucial reform is the commitment by Mothibi and justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to amend the NPA Act to strengthen Idac.
This marks another opportunity for the state to finally bring in long-ignored but essential reforms that will give the prosecuting authority more bite and ensure its independence, while strengthening the process of making key appointments such as Idac head.
The Prosecutions Project, a coalition of individuals and organisations campaigning for the deep, institutional reform of the NPA, has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish an independent panel to select the next Idac head — instead of unilaterally appointing one — which would allow for a transparent and merit-based process.
“Now is the time for decisive leadership. The appointment of the next investigating director must inspire public confidence and demonstrate a commitment to prosecutorial independence,” the project said in a statement. “More broadly, this moment should serve as the catalyst for long-overdue reform of the manner in which the leadership of the NPA is selected. There is no more time for equivocation.”
These measures should be buttressed by further crucial NPA reforms, recommended by the Zondo commission, which Ramaphosa’s administration has been painfully (and perhaps purposefully) delaying. Amending legislation to give the NPA greater administrative, structural and legislative independence is more urgent now than ever before.
While Mothibi may push to fix Idac over the next six months, it won’t be enough unless the fundamental structures undergirding the functioning of the unit and the NPA are wholly transformed.
The crisis precipitated by Johnson’s fall from grace provides another unmissable opportunity. The question is: will Ramaphosa take it?