The acting PP, Adv. Kholeka Gcaleka, said her office is not legally obligated to pay the legal fees of Mkhwebane. Advocate (Adv) Mkhwebane is currently undergoing a parliamentary inquiry into her fitness to hold office.

Her deputy, Adv. Gcaleka, said there is no law nor a court order which stipulates that the PP's office needs to pay for the legal fees of Mkhwebane at this parliamentary inquiry.

She said when the Office of the PP committed to pay the legal fees of the suspended PP, it was clear from the correspondence that it was on condition that it was reasonable and budgeted for.

Gcaleka said that given the start of the new financial year, her office is not in the position to pay for the legal fees because the PP's baseline has not been increased and they did not receive the adjustment they requested from National Treasury.

Gcaleka said they would only be able to pay if there is an adjustment to the PP's baseline.

"First and foremost, as the executive authority of the PP of South Africa, acting as I am with the full powers of the Public Protector, my primary responsibility is to ensure that I have a fully functional institution which executes on its mandate.

"The mandate of the Office of the PP has been compromised by the legal fees of about R26.5 million which we have paid thus far, involving the entire process that is going on, including the court actions that have taken place regarding the section 194 parliamentary proceedings. 

"Now, we are no longer in a position to pay that money, it is not budgeted for in this financial year. We have a backlog on goods and services but also, most importantly, services to the people who actually ensure that we have the money in the kitties of the PP," Adv Gcaleka added.

In a letter written to Mkhwebane, Gcaleka explained that "the processing of the latest batch of invoices, which still excludes the legal fees for March 2023, is likely to increase the amount of the variance with which the legal services budget would be exceeded during the current financial year, to an amount of over R21 937 226".

On Monday 3 April 2023, the Section 194 Committee met to deliberate on how to proceed following the decision by the Office of the PP to withdraw Mkhwebane's legal funding.

Mkhwebane indicated to the committee chairperson, Qubudile Dyantyi, that she did not have legal support as a result of the termination of the funding of her lawyer, Senior Counsel (SC) Dali Mpofu.

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