Pretoria – Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane spent more than R146m in legal fees between 2016 and 2022.
These figures were revealed on Thursday in the inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.
Mkhwebane has been heavily criticised for “wasteful expenditure” after most of her reports were taken into review and she had to spend taxpayers’ money defending her reports.
Mkhwebane spent more than R14m challenging the CIEX report and over R5m fighting the Estina Dairy Farm report after the DA and the Advancement of the South African Constitution took it on review in court.
Meanwhile, litigation involving the challenge to the Parliamentary rules came to R15m.
According to evidence leader advocate Nazreen Bawa, the Office of the Public Protector was involved in 72 review applications. There are also 24 review applications pending that the office didn’t oppose.
Thirty-seven of Mkhwebane’s reports have been set aside and there are 47 pending in court.
Her legal representative, advocate Dali Mpofu, said he would argue that Mkhwebane went out of her way to introduce austerity measures to control the legal spend.
Muntu Sithole, the manager for legal services at the office of the public protector, was back to testify on Thursday after the inquiry had gone on a two-week long break.
The last time when Sithole gave his testimony, MPs heard that Mkhwebane consulted a legal adviser, Paul Ngobeni, and paid him R96 000 for an opinion piece in April 2019.
There were other huge amounts paid to Ngobeni for his services, which Sithole described as “opinion pieces.”
Sithole said Ngobeni wasn’t a member of the National Bar Council of South Africa and he wasn’t a senior counsel.
According to News24, Ngobeni went to the US on a scholarship in 1982, and graduated with a law degree at the New York University School of Law in 1989.
He went into private practice in Connecticut but was suspended from the roll in 2005 and found guilty of seven counts of misconduct.
Former public protector Thuli Madonsela described Ngobeni as a fugitive from justice in a 2012 report on his appointment as a Special Adviser in the Ministry for Defence and Military Veterans.
MPs raised issues as to how Mkhwebane would use the services of someone who was considered a fugitive from justice and wasn’t registered with a legal fraternity in South Africa.
Members were also concerned that Ngobeni was paid huge amounts of money to write articles defending Mkhwebane, while also bashing politicians in the process. These articles were passed off as legal opinions.
However, Mpofu defended Mkhwanbe saying Ngobeni was recommended by Sibusiso Nyembe, who was the special advisor in the Public Protector’s office.
The hearing continues Friday.
