Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane on Tuesday dodged questions from parliamentarians concerned with how much her office had incurred in litigation costs while defending reports, the recommendations of which have been overturned by the court, and in a bid to escape impeachment. 

Mkhwebane had made several ill-fated efforts to approach the courts to avoid impeachment through an inquiry into her fitness to hold office. 

She was also fighting President Cyril Ramaphosa's looming bid to suspend her in the interim.

The call for Mkhwebane to divulge the legal costs she had incurred, came as she and her colleagues appeared before the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services on Tuesday, making a presentation on the 2022-2023 annual performance plan and budget for the Public Protector's office. 

Mkhwebane pleaded with the committee for additional funding of just over R50-million over the next three financial years, mainly to finance critical positions. 

Instead of acceding to the request, portfolio committee members were more interested in knowing how much Mkwebane's legal pursuits were costing the Chapter 9 institution and if such monies could be redirected towards the additional funding needs. 

Mkhwebane requested to answer the parliamentarians through a written response and not respond to the questions on the day. 

A total of just over R360-million had been approved for the public protector's office for the 2022-2023 financial year, with over 90% of the money expected to go toward staff salaries. 

Notwithstanding that a large chunk of the organisation's budget went toward salaries, the public protector's office revealed that it still needed to fill 22 crucial positions at an estimated cost of R15.1-million.

The office's chief executive officer, Thandi Sibanyoni, said: "The posts would have been funded by the public protector's office over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, had the baseline not been reduced in the 2019-2020 financial year."

Beyond the funding constraints, Mkhwebane's office indicated that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Auditor-General's (AG) office and would also be keeping a close eye on the spending of the KZN flood funding. 

The office said it would be receiving cases as soon as they were identified by the AG's office and would not be awaiting a final report on the total spending.