Anti-corruption expert Advocate Paul Hoffman SC calls for the disbandment of IDAC and the establishment of a new Chapter 9 corruption fighting institution that would be independent from the government executive.
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The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) should shut down and be replaced by a new corruption-fighting entity, independent of political office, to operate without fear of political interference, said corruption expert Paul Hoffman.
Hoffman made the suggestion in reaction to a public drama that occurred at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria last week.
Hoffman said even some of the corruption-investigating officers of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), better known as the Hawks, should be transferred to the new body, which would comprise IDAC officers.
The July 18 drama unfolded publicly when Crime Intelligence (CI) head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and the entity’s Intelligence Analysis and Coordination head, Major-General Nosipho Madondo, presented themselves at the police station to be arrested by IDAC, an entity of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
However, the two waited at the police station without IDAC officers showing up to execute the arrest warrants.
Mhlanga Incorporated, the law firm representing Khumalo, Madondo, and other senior CI officers, has since filed a complaint with Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJCD) Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi regarding political interference in IDAC’s operation.
The letter was also forwarded to Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia.
Hoffman agreed with Mhlanga Incorporated, stating that corruption-fighting bodies should stay clear of politicians.
“You don’t get that problem if all the corruption work is dealt with by one body.
“They (SAPS and IDAC) are in a turf war because Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi (Organised Crime Task Team national head) and Advocate Andrea Johnson (IDAC head) are in a pissing contest to see who can piss the furthest,” said Hoffman.
He said since IDAC is an unconstitutional body, it should be closed down.
“The Hawks and the prosecutorial aspect of the corruption work (IDAC) must be combined in a new Chapter 9 body that is outside executive control,” Hoffman said.
He said the country’s most talented officers in investigating corruption, including those from the Special Investigating Unit, must work for a politically independent entity.
“At the moment, the whole system is not working because the government is not prepared to have a body outside executive control; instead, they want hegemonic control.”
He said the government was wrong to believe that having multiple anti-corruption agencies is effective.
Last year, IDAC charged Khumalo, Madondo, IC Chief Financial Officer Major-General Philani Lushaba, CI Gauteng head Major-General Josias Lekalakala, CI’s Technical Management Service head Major-General Zwelithini Gabela, and the entity’s head of personnel security Brigadier Phindile Ncube with fraud and corruption.
They were accused of irregularly employing Brigadier Dineo Mokwele, who is also criminally charged along with them, in the CI’s Technical Support Services (TSS) and of flouting the vetting process.
Khumalo, Madondo, Lekalakala, Gabela, Ncube, and Mokwele were granted R10,000 bail, while Lushaba is out on R20,000 bail.
Mhlanga Incorporated, which also represents Lushaba and Lekalakala in the criminal case, still pending at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, complained to Kubayi through the department’s chief of staff, Lebohang Tshabalala, on June 22 that the arrest and prosecution of its clients had political infighting undertones within the security cluster.
When asked about Mhlanga Incorporated’s letter, Kubayi’s spokesperson Palesa Rammitlwa said: “The Minister will issue a media statement on this matter in due course.”
NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the NPA and IDAC would only deal with the complaint accordingly once it formally communicated to them.
“This matter will be ventilated at the right platforms, as we cannot deal with such matters through the media.
“The NPA and IDAC do not do their work driven by politically motivated infights in the security cluster as you allege. We do our work without fear, favour and prejudice,” said Kganyago.
The law firm said the infighting was fortified by the event at the Brooklyn police station.
The lawyers claimed that their clients continued to be prosecuted despite IDAC having a report stemming from the SAPS internal investigation, with findings that they were not involved in Mokwele’s alleged irregular appointment.
“It becomes glaringly clear that IDAC has no prospects of success in proving the charges against our clients and there is no prima facie case against our clients,” the complaint read.
The lawyers alleged that IDAC has deviated from its mandate to investigate serious and complicated corruption, commercial, and financial crimes emanating from recommendations of commissions of inquiry.
“Therefore, our clients’ considered and strong view is that in the present matter, IDAC has failed and flatly refused to demonstrate that on the facts of this matter involving our clients, either the matter is within their mandate in terms of the charges preferred or was referred in terms of Section 27 of the NPA Act.
“The investigation and prosecution undertaken by IDAC against our clients is clearly outside the legislative mandate of IDAC and therefore is outright unlawful,” read the letter.
The lawyers said that ordering Khumalo and Madondo via a phone call on June 18 - while they were on bail - to report to the Brooklyn police station for arrest without a warning statement or charges fuelled suspicions of ulterior motives against them.
The lawyers said on June 19, they informed the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) that Madondo and Khumalo were willing to surrender themselves for arrest and requested a 48-hour notice with charge sheets, and they also inquired why they were not summoned to appear in court.
“We are yet to hear from either the NDPP or the head of IDAC. Our clients have reason to believe that IDAC is hell-bent on arresting our clients on frivolous charges, all of which are intended to derail our clients from performing their lawful duties, the consequences of which are out in public for all to see.
“The conclusion that these arrests and threats of arrests are a pushback from certain quarters is irresistible; there are glaring signs of a much deeper-rooted political infighting within the security cluster,” the letter read.
University of KwaZulu-Natal political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said he did not believe that IDAC was effective in executing its mandate.
“Many senior politicians were implicated in the Zondo Commission, yet we have not seen arrests and convictions. It appears that IDAC is doing its job with fear and favour. There is a need to replace its leadership with competent people,” said Ndlovu.
He said the infighting between CI and IDAC was defeating the war against corruption.