Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has suffered yet another devastating court defeat — this time against revenue service Sars — and has been ordered, yet again, to personally pay part of the legal costs of the case.

SowetanLIVE's sister publication BusinessLIVE reported that Pretoria high court judge Peter Mabuse e-mailed out his 53-page ruling on Monday afternoon, granting Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter’s application for an order stating that Mkhwebane’s subpoena powers did not extend to taxpayer information.

He further ordered that she personally pay 15% of Sars’ legal costs in the matter.

The case was sparked by Mkhwebane’s attempts to subpoena former President Jacob Zuma’s tax information as part of her investigation into allegations that he received monthly payments from Royal Security in the first months of his presidency.

Royal Security is owned by politically connected businessman Roy Moodley.