Busisiwe Mkhwebane not entitled to millions in gratuity, says public protector office

Impeached former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is expected to be at loggerheads with her former employer over a whopping payout believed to be in the region of R10m.

TimesLIVE is reporting that it has been reliably informed that the public protector's office has determined Mkhwebane does not qualify for the payment because of how she left office.

Mkhwebane was impeached by parliament in 2023, rendering her unqualified to receive the payout, the protector’s office says. 

She was removed as the public protector in September by the National Assembly, with 318 MPs voting for her removal against 43 who voted to keep her, while one MP abstained.

President Cyril Ramaphosa officially removed her weeks later. She has since joined the EFF as an MP. TimesLIVE is reporting that is has been informed that the office of the public protector communicated its decision to Mkhwebane this week.

Some of the reasons are said to be that the law entitles only those who have left the post of the public protector of their own volition or at the end of their term, to receive the payment, and not when they have been removed.

The office of the public protector is said to have told Mkhwebane that it could not find a law in either the constitution or the Public Protector Act under which it could justify making the payment.

Mkhwebane’s predecessor, Thuli Madonsela, was paid R7.6m in gratuity at the end of her nonrenewable seven-year term.

Mkhwebane had not responded to calls and questions by the time of publishing.

TimesLIVE