By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane could be forced to repay R2.1 million irregularly paid for her stay at a luxury Pretoria estate.
Mkhwebane was found by the National Assembly on September 11 to be guilty of incompetence and misconduct and removed from office.
The chief executive officer of the Office of the Public Protector, Thandi Sibanyoni, said Mkhwebane ignored advice that the office could not foot her accommodation bill.
The Public Protector’s office is cleaning house and checking on all irregular payments made for the personal benefit of Mkhwebane.
This includes personal cost orders from the courts and legal fees for a defamation case launched by Mkhwebane against the Democratic Alliance even before she was appointed to the office.
Sibanyoni said: “So we want to do all the calculations of every money that we could have paid that we shouldn’t have paid from 2016 to date.”
She said Mkhwebane was first advised by the chief of staff that the Office of the Public Protector could not be expected to pay her rent for a ministerial housing complex she moved into in 2018.
“Subsequently we found a letter that was written by the then minister of public works that said she needs to sign a stop order towards the payment of rental,” said Sibanyoni.
Sibanyoni added that the letter appeared to have been concealed until the office started to collate invoices paid for Mkhwebane.
Mkhwebane meanwhile denies owing the Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) money for her accommodation at the Bryntirion Estate.
She said, that all the expenses made for her benefit were known and approved by the office.
“It is not true that I owe the PPSA any of the expenses in question, all of which were incurred with the full knowledge and agreement of the office,” she said.
Mkhwebane has courted controversy ever since she took office in 2016, making a number of politically charged findings that have been overturned in the courts.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), petitioned parliament to impeach her, and President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended her in mid-2022 while legislators determined her fitness to continue in office.
Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka who served as Mkhwebane’s deputy and stood in for her during her suspension, will take over as Public Protector on a permanent basis from next month.