JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance (DA) says the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) should be disbanded and replaced with a fully independent anti-corruption commission.
While the party says efforts to investigate and prosecute corruption are welcome, it argues they do not go far enough and that IDAC's credibility has been "fatally tainted."
The DA says it has long advocated for "something completely new", an anti-corruption commission established outside the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
"IDAC has been so fatally tainted, it is so beyond repair," said DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach.
"You cannot fix it. There is no bandaid big enough to fix it. It must be disbanded and we must now set up a truly independent anti-corruption body that will have all of the capacity it needs to go after corruption in the true sense."
Breytenbach says the independent body should be created through its own legislation as a Chapter Nine institution to ensure its independence and protect it from political interference.
She argues this would provide security of tenure, allow the commission to control its own budget, and enable it to pursue corruption and organised crime cases "without fear, favour or prejudice."