Raulinga Launches IDAC Oversight Office as Appointment and Structure Come Under Challenge

Overview

• Raulinga briefed the media on Sunday and confirmed the new Office of the IDAC Oversight Judge is operational and that investigators are pursuing multiple complaints while he declined to name complainants or subjects to protect all parties.
• Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi established the office to strengthen accountability at the Independent Directorate Against Corruption and appointed retired Judge Takalani Raulinga as the inaugural oversight judge.
• Governance experts have pointed to two main structural flaws: the Justice Minister’s role in recommending staff for the office and the absence of a ring‑fenced budget, which they say leave the body open to political influence and financial control by the department.
• The uMkhonto weSizwe Party has formally asked for Raulinga’s appointment to be reviewed, with MP Mzwanele Manyi citing Raulinga’s past ANC membership and a disclosed long friendship with President Cyril Ramaphosa as grounds to question his political independence.
• Investigations continue and the formal challenge could trigger parliamentary or legal scrutiny, with both Justice officials and the national prosecutor acknowledging that resolving these governance and appointment questions will be key to rebuilding public confidence in IDAC.