News&All has obtained documents detailing the legal bill that South African businesswoman Bridgette Motsepe-Radebe wants the Botswana government to settle. The dossier indicates how nearly six years of litigation generated claims running into tens of millions of pula. The government is being confronted with a sprawling legal bill whose scale and complexity is only now becoming visible through court documents that reveal a litigation campaign stretching across multiple jurisdictions, elite law firms, senior advocates and international consultancy networks.
Documents seen by News&All show that South African businesswoman Motsepe-Radebe’s legal team has formally demanded payment of costs accumulated during almost six years of legal proceedings, with the schedules attached to the demand running to tens of millions of pula.
The claim is contained in a letter from Mack Bahuma Attorneys to Khumomotse Law Practice, which represents the Attorney General.
Attached to the correspondence is a detailed dossier of invoices and cost schedules covering legal work undertaken between 2019 and June 2025. The documents paint a picture of litigation that extended far beyond courtroom appearances, involving forensic consultants, strategic communications advisers, international law firms, intelligence specialists and some of Southern Africa’s most senior legal practitioners.
“Find herewith a breakdown of our client’s legal costs as well as reasonable costs which she incurred. We have also attached Counsel’s invoices. Kindly but urgently advise when we can expect payment,” attorney Unoda Mack wrote.
Attached to the correspondence is a detailed dossier of invoices and cost schedules covering legal work undertaken between 2019 and June 2025. The documents paint a picture of litigation that extended far beyond courtroom appearances, involving forensic consultants, strategic communications advisers, international law firms, intelligence specialists and some of Southern Africa’s most senior legal practitioners.
At the centre of the claim is London-based consultancy Omnia Strategy, founded by Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
According to the schedules, Omnia’s services over a five-year period totaled £1.62 million, converted in the documents to approximately P30.6 million. The invoices cover professional legal support and a range of related services, including payments to intelligence firm Alaco, communications consultancy Portland Communications, advisory firm CT Group and international law firm Dentons.
The annual invoices show a steady stream of expenditure.
In 2020, professional fees amounted to £223,900, alongside payments of more than £145,000 to Alaco. The following year included professional fees of £196,432.50, additional payments to Alaco and a £27,500 invoice from Portland Communications.
The pattern continued through 2022, 2023 and 2024, with invoices covering legal advisory work, intelligence services, communications support and international legal consultations. The schedules place the total at P27.06 million.
The second-largest component of the claim comes from South African corporate law giant Webber Wentzel.
The firm’s invoices total R21.76 million, converted in the schedules to P18.76 million.
Six major invoices are listed, ranging from R2.62 million to R4.44 million each.
Their invoices describe extensive work undertaken over several years, including drafting founding and replying affidavits, reviewing thousands of pages of court records, researching Botswana defamation law, preparing heads of argument, consulting with attorneys and the client, attending court hearings and travelling between South Africa and Botswana.
The documents indicate that Webber Wentzel charged R19.62 million in legal fees, while travel and accommodation arranged through the firm amounted to a further R702,210.35. Separate fees paid to senior advocates totalled R2.14 million.
The cost schedules suggest that the litigation increasingly relied on specialist legal expertise as the matter evolved through multiple stages of court proceedings. Among the advocates whose fees are included are Geoff Budlender SC, Steven Budlender SC and Michael Mbikiwa.
Their invoices describe extensive work undertaken over several years, including drafting founding and replying affidavits, reviewing thousands of pages of court records, researching Botswana defamation law, preparing heads of argument, consulting with attorneys and the client, attending court hearings and travelling between South Africa and Botswana.
One invoice shows Geoff Budlender SC charging R149,940 for consultations, preparation, travel and court appearances in June 2025.
Another records Michael Mbikiwa billing R183,425 for 55 hours of legal research and drafting heads of argument in March 2025.
The schedules also contain numerous earlier invoices, some exceeding R155,000, for affidavit drafting, legal opinions, consultations and court preparation dating back to 2020.
Beyond the lawyers, the documents reveal a wider ecosystem of consultants engaged during the dispute.
Prolog Consulting billed a total of R1.37 million across three periods, including R240,134.38 in 2020, R782,000 in 2023 and R345,460 in 2024.
Another set of invoices, attributed to Bridget Vonholdt, totals R1.42 million and spans every year from 2019 to 2025. The annual charges range from R72,378 to more than R553,000.
Taken together, the documents provide one of the clearest pictures yet of the financial scale of the litigation and the network of advisers involved.
They also raise the stakes in the ongoing dispute over who should ultimately bear those costs.
What is now beyond dispute is the size of the bill.
The invoices reveal a litigation campaign whose costs reached from Gaborone to Johannesburg and London, generating a paper trail that runs into millions of rand, hundreds of thousands of pounds and, ultimately, tens of millions of pula.
