Illustrative image | President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo: Esa Alexander / Reuters) | Idac head Advocate Andrea Johnson. ( Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)
The conduct of South Africa’s most powerful anti-corruption czar, the head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), Andrea Johnson, is under scrutiny by the man who appointed her, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“It is something the President is looking into. He was looking forward to her testimony [at the Madlanga Commission] today,” said Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya in response to a Daily Maverick query.
But that testimony never happened. On Monday, 13 July, Johnson submitted what commission chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga bluntly labelled “one of those useless” medical certificates, failing to appear to answer damning allegations of collusion and defeating the ends of justice.
In shocking testimony on Friday, 10 July, a whistleblower in the SA Police Service revealed that Johnson had surreptitiously sent evidence of a complaint against him to the Crime Intelligence deputy head, General Feroz Khan, who is in hospital after being shot the night before he was to appear before the Madlanga Commission.
/file/attachments/2994/feroz_khan_20260630061322_102365.jpeg "Major General Feroz Khan hasn’t responded to allegations at the Madlanga Commission as he is in hospital after a shooting. (Photo: Antonio Muchave / Gallo Images)")
It was the third time that Johnson’s name had emerged in the blockbuster slate of revelations about the criminalisation of South Africa’s police. While she is not implicated in corruption, Johnson appeared before the parliamentary ad hoc committee also set up to probe the allegations of criminal infiltration of the police.
In her November 2025 testimony, she was questioned at length about her failure to recuse herself from a job interview at which her husband, Junaid Johnson, also a Crime Intelligence officer, was an applicant.
In June, she was again at the centre of police intrigue when Idac was pulled back from re-arresting General Dumisani Khumalo, the head of Crime Intelligence. After a dramatic showdown at Brooklyn police station in Pretoria with Johnson’s nemesis, the KZN head of police General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the arrest did not happen.
Idac has charged Khumalo and six other high-ranking police officers in relation to an irregular appointment — a charge Johnson told News24 is about much more than the human resources issue it suggests. In an accompanying interview, Johnson looked extremely stressed and said she feared for her life, a fear she has repeated in the past few years. The seven police officers are out on bail, scheduled to appear in court again in September.
Major headache
Johnson’s ongoing entanglement in the story, rather than her leading the charge against police corruption, poses a major headache for the newly appointed National Director of Public Prosecutions, Andy Mothibe. She was supposed to be his spearhead in the fight against graft.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said that because Johnson was appointed by the President, only he can decide what to do. Johnson reports to Mothibe for administrative purposes, but he is powerless to take action against her.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ED_585364.jpg "Idac head Andrea Johnson testifies in November 2025 at the parliamentary ad hoc committee inquiry into alleged corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system. (Photo: Brenton Geach / Gallo Images)")
“The repeated failure of key witnesses to appear before the Madlanga Commission, often citing last-minute medical emergencies, is becoming a matter of serious public concern,” said Tebogo Khaas of the Public Interest SA criminal justice advocacy group.
The group has registered a complaint against Johnson with the Hawks in relation to her being part of the interview panel when her husband was job-hunting.
“While every individual is entitled to privacy and appropriate medical care, the commission must also safeguard the integrity and credibility of its proceedings. Where circumstances warrant, independent medical verification should be considered to ensure that postponements are genuine and do not erode public confidence,” said Khaas.
Johnson is the fourth witness now in the “Madlanga Ward”, a term used by social media to describe the hospitalisations or panic attacks afflicting those called to testify.
The four are Johnson, Khan, the Medicare24 owner and alleged cocaine dealer Mike van Wyk, and the ANC North West leader Suliman Carrim, who allegeldy helped Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala bag a police wellness contract worth R228-million, for which he now faces trial. DM