Cape Town - The resumption on Monday of Parliament’s enquiry into suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office, after a two-week break, got off to a false start when Mkhwebane’s legal team did not pitch, citing payment issues.
Mkhwebane told the inquiry that she had not given her legal team the mandate to represent her because the team had not been paid in full.
She said her legal team spent the December holidays without being paid and even by the time schools were open, they had still not been paid.
“Unfortunately in South Africa, we have the challenge of the curse of the middle-class. I think we all know, people have bonds to pay, people have cars to pay.”
Mkhwebane said it was regrettable that the delays were being caused by the officials of the institution investigating her administration.
The committee’s legal adviser, Fatima Ebrahim, said they had been in touch with the PPSA which said that the payment delays were due to discrepancies in some of the invoices.
Ebrahim said the PPSA had assured her that they were carrying out a verification process before they could make payment.
Ebrahim said: “They also indicated that payments totalling approximately R8.2 million were paid on three different dates in September, October and November 2022, and of this R8.2m, about R2.8m was in relation to costs incurred as part of this inquiry.”
After the committee’s scheduled witness for the day – PPSA investigator Bianca Mvuyana – was sworn in, Mkhwebane said she could not proceed without her legal team.
Mvuyana was stood down and committee chairperson Qubudile Dyantyi said she would be questioned by committee members on Thursday.
There will be no session today or tomorrow as Parliament will be debating the president’s State of the Nation Address.