Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) head Adv Andrea Johnson publicly apologised before the Madlanga commission on Thursday after conceding that she wrongly described Crime Intelligence Brigadier Dineo Mokwele’s appointment as a “token appointment” despite never having seen her curriculum vitae or job application.
The apology came after Commissioner Adv Sandile Khumalo painstakingly dismantled one of the central factual pillars underpinning Idac’s case against Mokwele, confronting Johnson with the official job advertisement and her own prosecution documents.
Mokwele was arrested on June 26 2025 alongside Crime Intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo and several other senior police officers.
She faces fraud and corruption charges arising from allegations that her appointment as head of SAPS Technical Support Services was irregular and formed part of a broader scheme within Crime Intelligence.
Fair assessment of Mokwele’s suitability
However, during Thursday’s hearing, Khumalo questioned whether Idac had fairly assessed Mokwele’s suitability before recommending criminal charges.
He referred Johnson to her own affidavit, in which Idac stated Mokwele lacked the qualifications required for the post.
Asked which qualification Mokwele did not possess, Johnson initially referred to managerial experience.
Khumalo immediately challenged her.
“What is the qualification that you say in your affidavit she doesn’t have?”
Johnson again cited experience.
“Is that a qualification?”
“No,” Johnson conceded.
After being shown the official advertisement, Johnson abandoned Idac’s earlier position.
‘She does have the qualifications’
“In terms of the documents that I now have sight of, it is incorrect. She does have the qualifications.”
Khumalo then pointed out that Idac had also informed the courts that Mokwele lacked seven years’ senior management experience, despite the advertisement itself containing no such requirement.
Johnson had not seen Mokwele’s application
He further established that Johnson had never even seen Mokwele’s application for the position before recommending prosecution.
“Did you see her application for this job?” he asked.
Johnson admitted she had not.
“Now, if you had not seen her application for this job, how can you make a recommendation as you did in your prosecution memo that she must be charged with fraud and these many other things? What fraud has Miss Mokwele committed?” Khumalo asked.
Johnson replied that she had relied on information supplied by investigators.
“I now see that the facts as I might have received them then were incorrect,” she said.
The hearing reached its emotional climax when Khumalo turned to another passage in Johnson’s affidavit in which she described Mokwele’s appointment as “a token appointment”.
“It’s an unfair statement to make, having not seen her CV, having not seen her qualifications,” Khumalo said.
“Can you please, in this commission, withdraw the statement that her appointment is a token appointment? It’s an insulting thing to say.”
Johnson immediately accepted the criticism.
“I would have to go further than to withdraw. I would have to apologise that that statement was made,” she told the commission.
“I accept that the word ‘unsuitable’ is unsuitable and that the word ‘token’ is wholly inappropriate.”
The apology marked yet another concession extracted from Johnson during a week of sustained questioning, in which she has also acknowledged that Idac incorrectly interpreted the legal threshold for launching investigations, improperly solicited a statutory complaint, and provided incorrect information to Parliament.
The Madlanga Commission continues to examine whether Idac’s investigation into senior crime intelligence officers was initiated and conducted in accordance with the law and whether investigators placed accurate and complete information before the courts when seeking arrests and criminal charges.
- Idac head Andrea Johnson apologised before the Madlanga commission for wrongly describing Brigadier Dineo Mokwele’s appointment as a "token appointment" without reviewing her CV or job application.
- Johnson admitted she had not seen Mokwele’s application and relied on incorrect information from investigators when recommending criminal charges against Mokwele related to alleged irregularities in her SAPS Technical Support Services appointment.
- The commission revealed that Mokwele met the official qualifications for the post, contradicting Idac’s earlier claims about her lacking necessary qualifications and senior management experience.
- The hearing highlighted multiple errors by Idac, including misinterpretation of legal thresholds, solicitation of a complaint, and incorrect information provided to Parliament.
- The Madlanga Commission is investigating whether Idac’s probe into senior crime intelligence officers was legally justified and properly conducted, with Johnson conceding numerous procedural and factual mistakes during questioning.
