Question NW1343 to the Minister of Home Affairs
24 June 2021 - NW1343
Roos, Mr AC to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
What was the (a) closing balance of contingent liabilities against his department, (b) total rand amount of legal fees paid by his department and (c) total rand amount of cost orders against his department for the 2020-21 financial year?
Reply:
a) The unaudited closing balance for contingent liabilities as at 31 March 2021 for the Department of Home Affairs is R1 930 321 440.36 (compared to R2 189, 283 as at 31 March 2020). Please note the 2020/21 figure is unaudited and subject to change, which change may not be that significant.
b) The total amount of legal fees paid by the Department of Home Affairs during the 2020/21 financial year is R38, 512 million (compared to R75, 162 million as at 31 March 2020). Please note the 2020/21 figure is unaudited and subject to change.
c) As indicated above, the Department paid R38, 512 million in legal fees, however, this amount includes fees for both matters that the Department succeeded (costs of Department’s Counsels to represent the Department) as well as unsuccessful matters.
It must be noted that the State Attorney pays legal fees on behalf of the Department and the Department in turn reimburses the State Attorneys. Invoices received from the State Attorney’s office are received in bulk and the State Attorneys do separate costs for successful and unsuccessful matters when sending invoices.
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