Former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane says she is owed a R10 million gratuity, but her successor is not buying it. File Picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
The Office of the Public Protector has confirmed it has received papers from former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane who is suing it for a R10 million payout.
Mkhwebane has maintained over the last few months she was entitled to the R10m gratuity after serving as public protector from 2016 until she was impeached last year.
But current Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has dug in her heels, saying Mkhwebane was not entitled to the gratuity.
On Tuesday, Gcaleka said they have received papers from her predecessor.
“Following numerous media enquiries regarding the payment of a gratuity to former public protector, advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the public protector South Africa confirms that it has received Mkhwebane’s court papers and will attend to the matter accordingly,” said Gcaleka’s office.
Mkhwebane is now a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the National Assembly. She was sworn in as a member of Parliament a week after her removal from office in October last year.
This was after Gcaleka was acting as public protector before she was appointed into the position following the selection process by the parliamentary committee.
Mkhwebane said she believed she was entitled to be paid the R10m gratuity.
She has maintained that the refusal to pay her the gratuity was unconstitutional and unlawful.
Gacelaka, on the other hand, believes that she was not entitled to the payout because she did not finish her term and was removed from her position by Parliament.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics