IDAC head Andrea Johnson seeks immediate release from office

IDAC head Advocate Andrea Johnson has resigned from her post. AdvocateAndrea Johnsonhas 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 theallegations against herhad 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.