Mkhwebane has spend over R146 million on legal fees

Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane spent more than R146m in legal fees between 2016 and 2022.

These numbers were made public on Thursday as part of the investigation into Mkhwebane’s eligibility for office.

Mkhwebane has come under fire for “wasteful expenditure”. This comes after the majority of her reports were put under review and she had to use taxpayer funds to defend them.

Mkhwebane challenged the CIEX report for more than R14 million and the Estina Dairy Farm report for more than R5 million after the DA and the Advancement of the South African Constitution challenged it in court.

The cost of the legal action to challenge the Parliamentary rules reached R15 million.

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. 37 have been overturned, and another 47 are still pending in court.

Advocate Dali Mpofu, who is representing her in court, said he will make the case that Mkhwebane went out of her way to implement cost-cutting measures.

After the inquiry took a two-week break, Muntu Sithole, the manager for legal services at the office of the public protector, returned to testify on Thursday.

MPs learned from Sithole’s most recent testimony that Mkhwebane hired Paul Ngobeni as legal counsel and paid him R96 000 for an opinion piece in April 2019.

Other enormous sums that Sithole referred to as “opinion pieces” were paid to Ngobeni in exchange for his efforts.

According to Sithole, Ngobeni is not a senior counsel or a member of the National Bar Council of South Africa.

Ngobeni, who received a scholarship to study in the US in 1982, reportedly earned a law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1989.

In Connecticut, he started a private practice, but in 2005, he was removed from the rolls after being found guilty of seven charges of misconduct.

In a 2012 report on his employment as a Special Adviser in the Ministry for Defence and Military Veterans, former public protector Thuli Madonsela referred to Ngobeni as a fugitive.

MPs expressed concern over Mkhwebane’s decision to employ a person who was a fugitive and wasn’t affiliated with a South African bar association.

Members were alarmed by the fact that Ngobeni received substantial pay to publish articles defending Mkhwebane and criticising politicians. These writings were misrepresented as legal advice.

Mpofu supported Mkhwanbe, stating that Sibusiso Nyembe, the special advisor in the Public Protector’s office, had nominated Ngobeni.

The hearing continues on Friday and is still ongoing.

Also read: Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s new damning allegations