‘People have bonds, cars to pay’: Mkhwebane’s lawyers fail to show up after not being paid

Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s impeachment inquiry will resume later this week after the suspended Public Protector’s legal team did not show up on Monday as a result of non-payment.

The Section 194 Inquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office was expected to hear evidence from Bianca Mvuyana, an investigator at the Public Protector’s office, but was delayed.

The issue with the non-payment of Mkhwebane’s legal team was recently brought to the attention of the Section 194 Committee, which could hinder the inquiry from continuing with its work since the Public Protector is entitled to legal representation.

The committee was informed that invoices were sent to the Public Protector’s office in December last year.

‘Discrepancies’

Addressing MPs on Monday, Parliament’s legal advisor, Fatima Ebrahim, revealed that she and evidence leaders attended a meeting with Mkhwebane’s legal team on behalf of Parliament last week to discuss the matter.

“During that meeting, advocate [Dali] Mpofu indicated he was attending as a courtesy and that they had received no instructions of the payment issue,” she told the committee.

Ebrahim said the delayed payment is due to “discrepancies”, and about R8.2 million has already been paid by the Public Protector’s office.

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“Approximately R2.8 million was in relation to costs incurred as part of this inquiry so presumably the rest had to do with the ongoing litigation process,” she said.

According to Ebrahim, the office paid 33% (R2.1 million) of the outstanding fees to Seanego Attorney’s on 9 February, while the next payment was made the following day bringing it up to 74%.

“Invoices that are now in contention are the ones submitted in December for work done in August and September in respect of the juniors and as I understand for advocate Mpofu until 6 December. So [it appears there is] a delay in submitting the invoices.”

Ebrahim added that due to the issue of non-payment as well as not being able to reach Mvuyana, Mkhwebane’s legal team could not prepare for Monday’s proceedings.

Watch the proceedings below:

‘Curse of the middle class’

Mkhwebane, meanwhile, lambasted the non-payment of her legal team, saying invoices for the month of July were only paid in October.

“The issue is my legal team having to spend the December holidays without being paid. Unfortunately in South Africa, we have the curse of the middle class. Schools are opening and they have not been paid. People have bonds to pay, people have cars to pay.

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“As a state institution, they should have responded by 6 December especially because this is a very important process and they would want to eliminate any delays and [avoid] any accusations from either party [about] the delays. They should check and identify those discrepancies within a week,” she said.

“I don’t know whether that is done to punish me further because other legal teams have been paid. Why 33%? Now it’s as if paying 74% is doing people a favour. Why not pay 100%?” Mkhwebane told the committee.

She further said she will be unable to participate in the inquiry until the issues have been properly attended to.

Verifying invoices

Last week, acting Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, revealed that her office was experiencing funding issues.

According to Gcaleka, the office received an estimated R4.55 million at the start of the impeachment inquiry in July 2022 and has already spent R2.7 million.

The chapter 9 institution is currently verifying invoices for July to September amounting to R6.4 million.

Invoices, which are expected to exceed R5 million, for the period October to December as well as January 2023 have not yet been received or processed.

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Gcaleka informed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services that the total cost of the proceedings may escalate to between R12 million to R15 million at the current rate.

The parliamentary committee resolved to have several urgent meetings with National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola to discuss the issue of funding.

The Section 194 Inquiry will resume on Wednesday with Mvuyana and former deputy Public Protector Kevin Malunga set to testify before the committee.