Suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)
The days suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane will be staying at Pretoria’s palatial Bryntirion government estate are reportedly numbered, with her eviction looming.
Mkhwebane’s stay at the lavish estate, which includes the official presidential residence Mahlamba Ndlopfu residence, has been at the taxpayers’ expense.
The 1.07 square kilometres property boasts 15 tennis courts, a 9 hole presidential golf course with a helipad, a 202 CCTV camera perimeter security system, four gatehouses and 8.1 km of anti-climb motion detection fences.
City Press reported on Sunday that Mkhwebane moved into the estate, near the country’s seat of executive power, Union Buildings, in 2017 after citing threats to her life that could not be verified.
She reportedly moved into a flat, still within the ministerial estate, at the cost of R11 000 monthly rental costs to the office of the Public Protector.
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Last month, the report reveals, the institution’s CEO Thandi Sibanyoni and acting Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka wrote to Mkhwebane, notifying her of the office of the Public Protector’s decision to terminate its lease between it and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, which oversees the use of state-owned property.
City Press has reportedly seen a legal opinion, dated October 17, recommending that the accounting officer notify Mkhwebane that the lease agreement was being terminated following an internal investigation.
According to the report, legal had to probe whether the arrangement permitting her to stay in a state-owned house was part of her perks or a legal obligation in terms of her status as a protected VIP, as provided for in the risk information administration system.
But the report states that the internal legal opinion also found that her conditions and benefits did not provide for access to prestigious state-owned accommodation.
Former minister of public works and infrastructure Nathi Nhleko had given her permission to move into Bryntirion, but had reportedly made it clear that this would of her own account, and on a temporary arrangement of 12 months.
Mkhwebane is currently on suspension, pending outcomes of parliamentary proceedings assessing her fitness to hold office, after a panel established that there was substantial information constituting prima facie evidence of incompetence against her.
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Other than millions of rands she racked up with her disastrous findings and remedial actions, the Sunday report indicates that her office paid in the region of R4 million in her rental fees; an expense deemed irregular.
Neels Van der Merwe, senior manager for legal services in the office of the Public Protector, has told the parliamentary committee for the section 194 inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness the office had incurred R147 million in the past five years, affecting investigations.
The committee also heard how public relations and media analysts and strategists Kim Heller, Professor Sipho Seepe and Paul Ngobeni raked in thousands of rand to boost the Public Protector’s image, penning critical articles about some judges who had ruled against Mkhwebane.
She was quoted as saying she had no problem moving out of the house, but requested that Acting Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka provide her with a letter to the SAPS that she would be moving out, and confirming that she was no longer under the high-risk category.
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