Away from headlines, press conferences and funerals, members of Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s Section 194 impeachment inquiry should have handed over their written questions by now.
Wednesday, 21 June was the deadline for the submission of written questions to Mkhwebane by committee members, with 23 June being the cut-off date for evidence leaders.
On 16 June, Qubudile Dyantyi, the chair of the committee, issued a statement confirming amendments to how the committee would be proceeding. The show was on the road, with the engine purring rather than roaring, so to speak.
From here, according to Dyantyi’s timeline, Mkhwebane may “elect” to answer some of these questions orally or in writing under oath.
Should Mkhwebane fail to answer questions orally “by the date determined by the Chairperson of the committee, it will be assumed that the PP has elected to answer questions in writing” by a date to be determined by Dyantyi.
Tight corner
Should the suspended Public Protector fail to respond in writing, she will still be expected to provide a “written or oral closing argument”. Should she fail “to provide comments on the draft report, it will be presumed that she has elected not to avail herself to do so”.
Should all of this take place, the committee would not be “precluded from proceeding to deliberations and making findings based on the evidence before it”, said Dyantyi.
An amount of R4-million for legal fees was still available to Mkhwebane, who had rejected the recommended state attorney after her attorney of choice was stricken by an illness so sudden and severe he had to be hospitalised indefinitely.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Mkhwebane reaches end of the road, refuses State Attorney’s offer and is poised to reveal alleged bribery files
Since then, there was Mkhwebane’s “press conference”, releasing WhatsApps and alleged voice recordings of ANC MP Tina Joemat-Pettersson whose death will now be the subject of an inquest. Joemat-Pettersson is accused by Mkhwebane and her husband, David Skosana, of attempting to solicit a bribe for herself, Dyantyi and ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina.
Dyantyi and Majodina have denied the allegations.
Time is on her side
At the end of her term, Mkhwebane will receive a “gratuity” of about R10-million which comes as part of the job package.
This should happen in October, unless she is “removed from office” between then and now, but that in itself might not affect the payout.
Public Protector legal adviser Ndili Msoki told Daily Maverick that conditions of service were determined by the Public Protector Act, passed in 1994, with the appointment of advocate Selby Baqwa in September 1995, and amended twice, in 1996 and 2002.
Mkhwebane’s salary of R2,316,919 took effect on 1 April 2020, as published in the Government Gazette’s proclamation notice 29 of 2021.
Here’s one for the maths enthusiasts.
Conditions of employment make provision for a “gratuity” calculated “with the formula — D/7 x 2 x (E+3) x F, in which formula the factor: ‘D’ represents the salary (basic per annum) which at the time of his or her vacation of office was applicable to the office of the Public Protector; ‘E’ represents the period in years of his or her period in such office; ‘F’ represents the provision for the calculation of income tax calculated at a marginal rate of 40%”.
Former Public Protector advocate Lawrence Mushwana, on departure in 2009, received R6.8-million.
Pay back the money
In 2017, when advocate Thuli Madonsela’s term of office ended, she received a R7.6-million “gratuity” of which she later repaid about R450,000 for damages to a state vehicle caused by her son in 2012.
At the time, she had written to her successor, Mkhwebane, that those “who believe in a better world must be the first to do what we believe is right”.
Which brings us to the R4-million the Office of the Public Protector has admitted to paying the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure for Mkhwebane’s irregular rental of first a home, then an apartment, in the Bryntirion Presidential Estate in Pretoria. She lived there throughout her tenure.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Free Rider — Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s rent-free stay in presidential estate cost taxpayers R3.7-million
This is a perk to which Mkhwebane was not entitled and it was paid for with public funds.
That is over and above the fact that she headed an independent Chapter 9 institution aimed at holding the executive to account, all while living as a neighbour to that executive.
Msoki did not respond to a query as to whether the R4-million could be recovered through a deduction from Mkhwebane’s expected gratuity, as was done with Madonsela’s payout. DM