Attorney Busisiwe Mkhwebane has spent more than R67 million of her office budget on legal expenses, defending public protection decisions made at the judicial review and efforts to stop her impeachment.
Attorney Glynnis Breytenbach, a DA MP, said Friday the amount was disclosed in a written response to the parliamentary portfolio committee on justice.
She said the party will write to Attorney General Fhedzisani Pandelani to to determine the exact costs incurred by Mkhwebane in the litigation.
The breakdown provided in the written response states that the public protector paid R38.8 million in 2020/21 and R28 in 2021/22, R2 million has been spent.
Breytenbach said “budget constraint problems within the Office of the Public Protector would be significantly alleviated , and important matters might have received the attention they deserve” if the expenses had been used to investigate cases instead of being allocated to legal expenses.
LISTEN | “Reject fee-based motion to ban Mkhwebane,” says Parliament.
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