According to Angelo Agrizzi, De Wee was one of the officials at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development who was paid bribes in 2013 by Bosasa.

Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said in a statement released on Friday that De Wee had confirmed he was the COO of that department at the time but denied he received any payments. 

De Wee offered to take special leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the claims and Zondo accepted the offer.

De Wee was appointed to his current position in April 2005. He has also worked as acting Secretary-General in the Office of the Chief Justice.

Dr de Wee holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of the Free State; a Master’s degree in Education from the University of the Witwatersrand; a Bachelor of Education from the University of Natal and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of the North (Qwaqwa).

Dr De Wee has held several senior positions in government at both national and provincial level, including serving as the director in the Office of the Director-General at the National Department of Education; as Deputy Director-General at Public Works, Roads and Transport in the Free State Provincial Government and Director-General and head of Public Service, and as the acting CEO of the National Prosecuting Authority.

Justice Zondo said a new acting secretary would be taking over De Wee's duties from 22 January.

eNCA