On Monday in Pretoria it was heard that the National Prosecuting Authority’s suspended senior prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach was not found guilty on one of the 15 charges against her. Chairperson of the disciplinary hearing Selby Mbenege said:
There is not an iota of evidence that [Breytenbach] exerted influence on [director at Imperial Crown Trading Archie Luhlabo] indirectly through [Sishen’s counsel Mike Hellens].
She is accordingly found not guilty on the main and alternative charges.
I do not therefore see my way clear in finding the employee guilty of misconduct on count one.
Breytenbcah was suspended from the NPA on 30 April 2013. According to Breytenbach, the reason for her suspension was due to acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Mongcobo Jiba. Jiba was attempting to prevent her from prosecuting former police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli on fraud charges.
Breytenbach faced a myriad charges, including “surreptitiously leaking” inside NPA information to Beeld journalist Sonja Carstens. The organisation has also accused Breyetnbach of “maligning” the NPA in the media.
Breytenbach has said that should she be granted permission to return, she would do so and go back to the cases she was dealing with.
