Two former senior law enforcement officials are expected to appear in court today on charges relating to an alleged cover-up of a 2018 assault case, triggering calls for South Africa’s main anti-corruption body to be disbanded.

Advocate Andrea Johnson, former head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), and Major-General Feroz Khan, former deputy head of Crime Intelligence at the South African Police Service (SAPS), were arrested on Thursday.

The pair face charges of defeating the ends of justice and contraventions of the National Prosecuting Act.

The charges relate to a June 2018 incident in which Khan allegedly assaulted a brigadier under his command. A criminal complaint was opened at Silverton Police Station.

Investigators allege Johnson, who was working at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) at the time, interfered with the police docket. Evidence at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry revealed Johnson allegedly sent an email from her private Gmail account disclosing the docket contents to Khan.

A witness testified that Johnson instructed her to delete the email after printing it and giving the contents to Khan. Khan was dismissed from SAPS while Johnson resigned as IDAC head in July.

The arrests follow months of allegations from Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee and the Madlanga Commission, established in July 2025 to investigate infiltration of law enforcement agencies by criminal syndicates.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said the arrests expose corruption within law enforcement and called for IDAC to be disbanded.

“These arrests are a devastating indictment of the state of law enforcement in South Africa. They expose the endemic and systemic corruption that has infected the NPA and SAPS for many years now,” said Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, DA spokesperson on justice and constitutional development.

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“An anti-corruption institution tainted by such serious allegations cannot credibly command public confidence. IDAC is beyond rehabilitation, and must be disbanded.”

The DA called for a new, independent anti-corruption institution established outside the NPA, “insulated from political interference and institutional capture”.

ActionSA said it had consistently raised concerns about Johnson’s conduct, particularly contradictions between her testimony before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee and evidence at the Madlanga Commission.

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The party called for a finding that her evidence was materially false, potentially constituting perjury and a contravention of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament Act.

“Despite facing considerable resistance from the Committee majority, ActionSA refused to back down. Our position was repeatedly challenged, while the EFF went as far as invoking Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s name in defending Johnson,” the party said.

“The institution entrusted with investigating corruption cannot itself be beyond scrutiny. The arrests must now be followed by a thorough and independent legal prosecution process.”

IDAC was established as a permanent prosecution-led unit within the NPA in 2024 to pursue serious, high-profile or complex corruption cases.

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