CORRUPTION: IDAC OMBUD OFFICE LAUNCHED, MANDATE CLARIFIED

CORRUPTION: IDAC OMBUD OFFICE LAUNCHED, MANDATE CLARIFIED

• 20 July 2026
• Justice & Constitutional Development
• SA Legal Academy

The Office of the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) Oversight Judge ‘will operate with strict judicial detachment’. This is according to head of the newly established unit, retired judge Takalani Raulinga, who held his first media briefing on 19 July 2026. At the time of writing the unit had yet to issue a formal statement. However, Raulinga’s remarks are quoted in a Government Communication & Information System SAnews article and include the following commitments:

• the oversight office will:
  • ‘investigate complaints relating to alleged improper conduct by persons who fall within its oversight mandate’, including:
    • prosecutors
    • investigators
    • deputy directors
    • seconded officials, and
    • ‘other personnel appointed to support the IDAC, as provided for in section 7(4)(a) of the (2024) National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Act’
  • focus on:
    • ‘serious, high-profile or complex corruption’
    • ‘commercial crime or financial crime’ arising from:
      • commissions of inquiry
      • referrals by the National Director of Public Prosecutions
      • statutory referrals, and
      • complaints lodged by members of the public
  • ensure that justice is ‘administered without regard to status, influence or affiliation’, while
• the office will not:
  • ‘participate in public debate’, or
  • be ‘influenced by external pressure or popular opinion’.

A 10 July 2026 Department of Justice & Constitutional Development media statement issued when the office was launched notes that – in terms of sub-section 22A(4) of the 1998 National Prosecuting Authority Act – it is ‘mandated to investigate complaints relating to violations of rights, improper conduct, or obstruction in the exercise of the powers, duties, and functions of officials within the IDAC’.

However, the SAnews article quotes Raulinga as having emphasised that that his office:

• will not ‘investigate intelligence matters falling under the Inspector-General of Intelligence’, and
• does not ‘replace the investigative powers of the South African Police Service or the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’.

‘The office operates within clearly defined constitutional and legislative boundaries, complementing existing law enforcement and oversight mechanisms’, Raulinga is reported to have said.

• SAnews article
• departmental statement
• 2024 amendment Act (fully in force since March 2026)

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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