More revelations have emerged at the Section 194 committee, including how suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane received threats relating to her investigation into the South African Revenue Service (Sars) “rogue unit”.
Proceedings into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office resumed after her latest bid to postpone the inquiry was rejected on Tuesday.
This paved the way for the committee to hear the evidence of Neels van der Merwe, who was appointed as senior manager of the Public Protector’s legal services department on 1 August 2022.
Threats
During his testimony, Van der Merwe was quizzed about Mkhwebane’s email – dated 15 June 2019 – in which she alleged there were threats to her life, and that one of her bodyguards was poisoned.
“There is proof of threats to arrest for money laundering, threats to poison me and actually my protector has been poisoned (we have proof from the doctors). My car tampered with. Witnesses who fear for their lives confirmed two people who died mysteriously when they spoke about the rogue unit,” the email reads.
ALSO READ: ‘Good luck, maybe we’ll see you again’: Dali Mpofu withdraws from representing Mkhwebane
But Van der Merwe told the committee that police found no poison in the protector’s body.
“It [was] related to an issue of overindulgence in some food, Kentucky [Fried Chicken] or something like that. [It was] not related to an incident of actual poisoning or threat. That was the police’s report on the matter… they interviewed the protector and that was his explanation,” he said.
Watch the proceedings below:
Legal bills
Paul Ngobeni
Van der Merwe also continued his testimony about the invoices sent to Mkhwebane’s lawyers – Seanego Attorneys – by former ministerial advisor Paul Ngobeni, and political analysts, Kim Heller and Professor Sipho Seepe.
His testimony was related to Mkhwebane’s legal bills since it was previously revealed that the Public Protector’s office spent R158 million in “consulting and professional fees”.
Email evidence presented to the committee on Wednesday showed how the Public Protector’s legal services department was billed for “legal opinions” by Ngobeni through Seanego Attorneys.
RELATED: Paul Ngobeni, Mkhwebane’s CR17 legal advisor, not registered with Legal Practice Council
Ngobeni was allegedly paid R96 000 to pen a legal opinion for Mkhwebane’s investigation into President Cyril Ramaphosa’s CR17 campaign.
The fugitive lawyer was also paid R87 000 to write opinion pieces in the media slamming former ministers who were critical of Mkhwebane.
According to the Legal Practice Council (LPC), Ngobeni is not permitted to render any legal services in South Africa, as he is not registered as a legal practitioner.
Kim Heller and Sipho Seepe
The Public Protector’s office was also invoiced for “strategic communication” services by Heller and Seepe through Wekunene Business Services.
The evidence led by advocate Nazreen Bawa revealed that Heller and Seepe’s work – which entailed a social media campaign for Mkhwebane – made up of 65 hours at R1 850 per hour that included:
- Four hours of “research and reading”
- 24 hours “preparing articles”
- 15 hours of “interview set-up, preparation and marketing”
- Seven hours “social media activation”
- Seven hours for “advisory and briefing notes for office and with key influencers”
- Eight hours for “correspondence, reports and meetings”
READ MORE: Mkhwebane impeachment: Public Protector to challenge recusal decision – Dali Mpofu
This totalled R120 000, according to the invoice.
There was another invoice for services from July to September 2019, totalling R99 000.
Van der Merwe told the committee that Heller, Seepe, Ngobeni and Wekunene Business Services were not listed in the Public Protector’s database of consultants, despite the invoices.
Seanego Attorneys first travelled to Pretoria on 4 June 2019 to meet with Heller, Seepe and Ngobeni to discuss how to counter the “media onslaughts” on Mkhwebane.
‘Fair value’
Meanwhile, Heller and Seepe have since sought to provide clarity on the matter, claiming that “the media space is driven by too much negativity”.
“In view of an avalanche of misinformation and some deliberate distortions, we felt it necessary to set out the inconvenient facts shared with the Section 194 committee,” they said in a joint statement.
The pair explained their strategic communication services were done for Ngobeni and argued that their work was not priced at R120 000.
“While we had been in conversation with the office of the Public Protector as far back as 2018 regarding possible provision of strategic communication services, our proposal was not successful.
ALSO READ: Inquiry meant to persecute, harass and embarrass me, says Mkhwebane
“We subsequently rendered similar services through Mr. Ngobeni’s consultancy for a brief period of three months in 2019. In providing our services to a client, our invoices have detailed what we consider to be fair value.
“It is the responsibility of the client to determine whether what is billed is commensurate to services provided. Our rates for work done over this three-month period were below government recommended consultancy rates and well below figures mentioned in the media.”
