The first office that will be shut permanently is the Siyabuswa regional office in Mpumalanga, and others will follow.
Constitutional law professor Shadrack Gutto said the Treasury must explain why it was not able to sufficiently fund the office.
“It sounds like just another way of trying to weaken an office that has been seen to be so robust in meeting its constitutional obligation but that is embarrassing those who do not properly believe in building constitutionalism as a rule of law,” Gutto said.
The public protector’s spokesman, Oupa Segalwe, said last night: “We are looking at where we can cut costs and the decision has been [to] close regional offices that are under-utilised and reopen them once our financial situation has improved.”
