The Office of the Public Protector has confirmed that suspended Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe is not being evicted from the state house in Pretoria’s Bryntirion Ministerial estate – but if she continues to live there she must do so at her own cost.

The Citizen reports that Mkhwebane’s stay at the estate has until now been at the taxpayers’ expense.

‘The institution acknowledges that the subject matter involves the use of public funds, and thus is of interest to the people of SA.’

The Office of the Public Protector said it has notified the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure of its intention to terminate the lease agreement. According to the office, this was done to rectify the obligation of who bears the financial costs of Mkhwebane’s accommodation.

The office said it started looking into the matter before Mkhwebane’s suspension and the process was communicated to her on 18 October.

Mkhwebane moved into the estate in 2017 after claiming there were threats to her life. The flat reportedly costs the Office of the Public Protector R11 000 a month in rent.

Full report in The Citizen

The Daily Maverick reports that Mkhwebane has subsequently responded that she will be vacating the premises, but would require a ‘letter of confirmation’ from the SAPS that the police had been informed, ‘about my vacating the residence and confirming that I am no longer under any high-risk category by 5 November’.

It was Nathi Nhleko, the then Minister of Public Works and the man who defended Jacob Zuma’s ‘fire pool’, who had given permission for Mkhwebane to move into Bryntirion. This was after a threat assessment by the SAPS.

But the arrangement clearly stated this would be a temporary move for 12 months only and that Mkhwebane would have to pay rent out of her own pocket.

Full Daily Maverick report