Des Erasmus
Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) head Andrea Johnson has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa and National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Andy Mothibi to release her from office within 24 hours.
Johnson asked that the three-month notice period contained in her contract be waived, according to a letter addressed to Ramaphosa and Mothibi and seen by Inside Politics.
“Your Excellency and NDPP, I am humbly requesting you to consider my application for resignation. Whilst my contract requires a three-month notice period, I would request both your considerations of an immediate release from office, thereby waiving the notice period,” she wrote.
“This in effect would mean that, by agreement, I vacate my office within 24 hours.”
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed that Mothibi had received the letter and was “processing it”.
Johnson said the past five months had been particularly difficult and linked the pressure she had faced to investigations conducted by IDAC against senior Crime Intelligence officials.
“The recent five months or so have been challenging and the attacks on both my person and official capacity have been unprecedented,” she wrote.
“Much of the attacks revolve and arise out of the cases IDAC has conducted against officials of Crime Intelligence.”
Johnson has faced several days of questioning at the Madlanga Commission, including over allegations that she forwarded information from an assault docket involving Crime Intelligence Major-General Feroz Khan to him. She invoked her right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions about the allegation.
The commission has also questioned the basis on which IDAC investigated Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and other officials.
Evidence before the inquiry showed that IDAC approached National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams and requested that he prepare an affidavit under Section 27 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act. Johnson agreed during her testimony that IDAC had solicited the affidavit.
She also acknowledged that incorrect information had been used when she approved the prosecution of Crime Intelligence Brigadier Dineo Mokwele, whose lawyers subsequently lodged a complaint against Johnson with the IDAC ombud.
Johnson said in the letter that the criticism had placed both IDAC and the prosecuting authority at risk.
“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 have given thirty years of service to an organization I love dearly. I cannot be the reason that there is so much negative attention and reputational risk to IDAC and the NPA.”
Johnson said the allegations against her had not been proven but added that an inquiry into her fitness to hold office would be expensive and time-consuming.
“The allegations against me must still be proven, but that will again require the setting up of a commission and a process which is both costly and time consuming,” she wrote.
“The country cannot afford another commission.”
Johnson also said South Africa was under scrutiny by the Financial Action Task Force and that instability at IDAC could affect the country’s efforts to combat financial crime.
The country was removed from the FATF’s list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring in October 2025 and did not appear on its June 2026 grey list.
Johnson said she had already applied for retirement but was concerned that approval of the application by Ramaphosa and Mothibi could be challenged in court.
“I have already put in for retirement as I am 55 years old turning 56 next month, NDPP I am grateful that you supported this,” she wrote.
“I have been honoured to have served and want to ensure that I am able to exit with as minimal disruption as possible.”
Ramaphosa appointed Johnson to lead the then Investigating Directorate in February 2022, following the departure of its previous head, Hermione Cronje.
Johnson is expected to return to the Madlanga Commission on Monday.
INSIDE POLITICS
