The Office of the Public Protector said on Tuesday it has reported the issue of Busisiswe Mkhwebane’s legal fees to the office of the Auditor-General.
While Mkhwebane and her supporters have claimed that her office achieved three clean audits in a row, recent evidence before the Section 194 inquiry looking into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office, has raised questions about its expenditure on legal fees.
Evidence presented before the Section 194 inquiry calls into question the R147 million spent on legal fees in relation to the quality of services provided given Mkhwebane’s dismal litigation track record. It also appeared from email evidence that counsels’ political affiliation played a role in their appointment.
Since 2018, Seanego Attorneys received the most briefs, and to date has been paid more than R55 million in legal fees, out of that amount advocate Dali Mpofu SC, was the highest paid counsel, having received about R12 million.
Furthermore, evidence before the inquiry also shows Paul Ngobeni, a fugitive from US justice who is not allowed to practice law in South Africa, was paid thousands of rand for “legal opinions” and communications services, including attack articles against judges who ruled against Mkhwebane, from the legal services budget through Seanego Attorneys.
In a statement, the acting public protector’s spokesperson Ndili Msoki stated that there was a process underway in parliament, which amongst other issues, was tasked with considering the matter of legal fees.
He said whilst awaiting the outcomes of the process, the institution had already reported the matter to the Auditor-General and confirmation was received that the matter would be looked into in the next audit.
He said in the interim, the Office of the Public Protector was in the process of reviewing its systems, which included those in relation to the procurement of legal services.
Source: Polity, Briefly, News24, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: @CapricornFMNews