Breytenbach suspended for charging Mdluli, hearing told

THE suspension of senior prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach happened at the same time as the charges brought against suspended head of police crime intelligence Lt-Gen Richard Mdluli, a disciplinary hearing against Ms Breytenbach was told yesterday.

Ms Breytenbach faces 15 counts of improper conduct in the handling of a case lodged by the Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen plant against Imperial Crown Trading (ICT). ICT investors include President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma and the politically connected Guptas.

Ms Breytenbach, who has pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges, has maintained that she was suspended in order to prevent her from prosecuting LtGen Mdluli.

Counsel for Ms Breytenbach, Wim Trengove SC, said yesterday that in April, Ms Breytenbach and her colleague Jan Ferreira prepared a memorandum to challenge a decision made by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in December last year not to charge Lt-Gen Mdluli, and sought a review of that decision.

“It was prepared in the first half of April and it occurred at the same time you and your colleague were rummaging through her inbox,” Mr Trengove told the acting senior manager of the NPA’s integrity management unit, Hercules Wasserman.

Mr Trengove said the memorandum was delivered to the office of the national director of public prosecutions on April 24.

On April 26, the head of the NPA’s specialised commercial crimes unit, Lawrence Mrwebi, responded to the memorandum and persisted with instructions that Lt-Gen Mdluli should not be prosecuted. “On April 30, advocate Breytenbach was suspended. Our inference is that she was suspended because she challenged the decision on Lt-Gen Mdluli,” Mr Trengove said.

Mr Wasserman said he did not know about the preparation of the memorandum by Ms Breytenbach and Mr Ferreira.

Mr Mrwebi had received representations from Lt-Gen Mdluli in November last year in respect of the case of abuse of the secret service account. Mr Mrwebi decided in December not to prosecute Lt-Gen Mdluli.

Mr Trengove said Ms Breytenbach would submit to the disciplinary hearing chairman, Sandile July, that Mr Wasserman’s demand that she hand over her laptop computer was unlawful.

Ms Breytenbach is also charged with refusing to hand over her official laptop, and deleting information from it.

Mr Wasserman said he saw it as lawful to access Ms Breytenbach’s private communications from the NPA server.

The hearing continues today.