Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
In her debut briefing at Parliament as South Africa’s new public protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane briefed parliamentarians on the institution’s annual report.
According to the annual report, the public protector’s budget for the current financial year is R262-million, but R122-million has already been spent. The report reveals that there has been around R5-million in irregular expenditure.
When pressed about the R5-million by MPs, Mkhwebane said that it would not happen again and that the use of consultants contributed to wasteful expenditure. She did, however, say that the public protector’s office will be unlikely to receive a clean audit in the next financial year.
“The irregular expenditure of R5-million definitely will not be repeated,” Mkhwebane said.
“Utilisation of consultants was a challenge in the office and I need to put it on record that I doubt we will have a clean audit the next financial year.”
Mkhwebane vowed that consultants will no longer be used in the public protector office. She also told MPs that there would be a clampdown on international travel and that donor funding would be rejected because it could harm the independence of the public protector’s office. The public protector’s office received criticism from MPs after it was revealed that USAID had donated $500 000 to the institution.
“Going forward, I commit no consultation will be utilised in that office, no donor funds will be requested in that office. I discussed with the management as well and they know what is the way forward as far as that is concerned,” she said.
“We will try our level best. Whatever is in my control, we will try our level best to make sure that we have an unqualified audit.”
She asked Parliament for its support for additional funding for the public protector office and said that her experience working in the State Security Agency (SSA) had made her aware of the implications of donor funds.
“Donor funding, it’s a thing of the past, especially coming from the environment where I was working which is not a secret. I was working for the State Security Agency and I know the implications of that,” Mkhwebane said.
The so-called state capture report was also addressed. Initially, former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report into the alleged control the Guptas have of the state, and the benefits the family has incurred from state resources was given to Baleka Mbete, speaker of the National Assembly for safekeeping but it is now in the possession of Advocate Fourie, the head of legal services.
“The report is kept safely in the safe of the head of legal services,” Mkhwebane said. “I don’t have a safe in my office [or] a very secure way of keeping it.”
The public protector said that she will give an update on the status of the report.