Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has the "final say" on the reports issued by her office, senior manager for executive support Futana Tebele testified on Wednesday.

During his testimony before the Section 194 Committee that is inquiring into Mkhwebane's fitness for office, Tebele continually referred to Mkhwebane as the "executive authority".

Responding to a question from evidence leader advocate Ncumisa Mayosi, Tebele said Mkhwebane reads all the reports issued by her office and sends them back if she is not happy with them. 

After prompting from Mayosi, he said Mkhwebane has the "final say" on all reports.

The crux of the charges before the committee – that Mkhwebane had behaved improperly and is incompetent – stem from scathing court rulings against her in relation to the Vrede dairy farm report, the CIEX/Reserve Bank report, the CR17 matter and the so-called "rogue unit" investigation.

The implication of Tebele's testimony is that Mkhwebane had the "final say" on these reports.

There has been testimony before the committee that Mkhwebane instructed investigators not to include the GuptaLeaks in their Vrede dairy farm probe.

Mayosi asked Tebele if he was involved in the Vrede investigation.

He said he wasn't really part of the investigation. He said there was "an opinion" that they needed to check whether there was a public-private partnership, which he was involved in due to his experience in that field.

Mayosi asked if he recalled being involved in discussions about the GuptaLeaks and the Vrede project and whether he asked Reginald Ndou, the executive manager for the provincial investigations and integration unit, not to use the GuptaLeaks. 

Tebele said he didn't recall such discussions and couldn't remember telling Ndou not to use the GuptaLeaks.

Tebele said there was tension in the quality assurance unit because the lawyers had to report to Mkhwebane's chief of staff, who wasn't a lawyer.

Adding to the tension was Mkhwebane insisting that investigators determine deadlines.

Tebele testified that Mkhwebane's backlog-clearing initiative "created a lot of pressure on people within the office of the Public Protector to work".

Investigators were required to report to Mkhwebane directly and via their executive managers.

"There was lots of pressure on them to complete their work with frequent and constant meetings being held to ascertain how far investigations were and what was being done in respect of reducing the backlog," he added.

He said Mkhwebane didn't take kindly to deadlines not being met.

Tebele said in his affidavit that Mkhwebane would reprimand employees who didn't meet deadlines and would sometimes raise her voice.

He told the committee he could sometimes see how the "executive authority" was "hammering" investigators.

However, he said he never experienced harassment, intimidation and harassment, nor did he see Mkhwebane doing this.

The hearing continued into the afternoon, with Mkhwebane's counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu SC, cross-examining the witness.

Tebele, Mkhwebane and Mpofu are participating through the virtual platform.