JOHANNESBURG - Calls are mounting to disband the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), following Madlanga Commission testimony that detailed alleged wrongdoing by senior members of the unit.
Accountability Now’s director Paul Hoffman argues that IDAC is legally no different from the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), commonly known as the Scorpions.
He warned IDAC that it is vulnerable to the same downfall that led to the crime-fighting unit, the Scorpions, being dissolved.
"The IDAC, as it sits at the moment, is legally indistinguishable from the Scorpions, which worked rather well until the executive branch of government started interfering with its operations and eventually brought it down via a majority vote in parliament that saw the end of the Scorpions.
“Now, to replace the scorpions with a legally indistinguishable body means that IDAC, as it is currently constituted, is indistinguishable from the scorpions and could suffer the same fate if, like the scorpions… So, the short answer is close it down."
During a media briefing on Thursday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi dismissed calls to disband the unit.
READ | Kubayi dismisses calls to disband IDAC
She said those who are making these calls must disabuse themselves of the tendency to reduce institutions to individuals.
According to Kubayi, the unit continues to play a vital role in the fight against corruption and should not be judged by the actions of individuals found to have acted outside its mandate.
The country’s key anti-corruption unit has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, with senior officials at the centre of allegations of overstepping the unit’s mandate.
READ | Lifestyle audit, case reviews, suspensions: Kubayi launches IDAC clean-up
Following the resignation of Andrea Johnson as head of IDAC, the unit confirmed the suspension of three of its senior investigators, including Dylan Perumal, Suneel Bellochun, and Brian Padayachee.
Their suspension is pending disciplinary proceedings against them.
Janine Erusmus of Corruption Watch said this move was long overdue, as she criticised the unit for operating in what she calls impunity.
“There's been no oversight, no monitoring body, nobody to rein in IDAC's activities. We've seen the ombuds office set up only last month, and this is like two years after IDAC started operating. So for all of that time, it's been operating without any oversight whatsoever. So, a wholesale order to reshuffle and overhaul the organisation is definitely something that is needed.