Advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara is the new acting IDAC head, appointed with immediate effect on Thursday, 3 September 2026, after the resignation of Advocate Andrea Johnson from South Africa’s corruption investigating directorate.
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi made the appointment in consultation with National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andy Mothibi, as reported by News24.
Vanara takes charge of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption on secondment.
Who is Vanara, the new acting IDAC head
Vanara serves as Chief Legal Counsel at the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and moves to the directorate on secondment, meaning he retains his position at the unit while carrying the acting role.
He brings more than 25 years of experience across state institutions.
That record spans state-owned enterprises, Parliament and other complex regulatory environments. Parliament’s Justice Committee welcomed the appointment, which fills the vacancy left at the top of a body that has been without permanent leadership since Andrea Johnson stepped down.
Secondment from the SIU places a lawyer familiar with civil recovery work at the head of a criminal investigative body. The two institutions pursue corruption through different routes, one through the criminal courts and the other through the recovery of assets.
What the acting IDAC head takes on at the directorate
The directorate was established on a recommendation from the Zondo Commission into state capture and is tasked with investigating serious corruption. It sits within the National Prosecuting Authority, which is why the justice minister makes the appointment in consultation with the national director.
Johnson led the directorate until her resignation. The announcement of Vanara’s appointment did not set out a reason for her departure, and the circumstances could not be verified at the time of publishing.
The vacancy was filled with immediate effect rather than left open.
An acting appointment carries the full powers of the office but is temporary by design, and it does not settle the question of who leads the directorate permanently. Johnson’s departure leaves that decision to a later process run by the department.
What happens next for the acting IDAC head
The directorate is one part of an anti-corruption architecture that South Africa has been rebuilding since the state capture hearings ended. Swisher Post has tracked another strand of that work through its running coverage of the Madlanga Commission, which is examining conduct inside the criminal justice system.
Vanara’s first task is continuity, keeping active investigations moving while the department decides on a permanent appointment.
Cases already sitting on the directorate’s books now have to reach a courtroom, and the speed at which they get there will define an acting term of undefined length.
