DA hails judgment clearing Breytenbach’s name

She was accused of abuse of power when she was an NPA prosecutor

THE DA has hailed the decision of the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court to acquit its MP Glynnis Breytenbach of all charges against her, saying the charges were trumped up from the start.

The former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) senior prosecutor faced charges of allegedly defeating the ends of justice and corruption involving the rigging of multimillion-rand tender contracts.

She was accused of abuse of power when she was an NPA prosecutor, who allegedly influenced the awarding of tenders involving a medical aid scheme and projects in the construction industry linked to the World Cup.

The State alleged that Breytenbach refused to hand in her work laptop and allegedly deleted evidence from it while she faced an internal investigation for alleged misconduct in 2012, when she was head of the Specialised Crimes Unit.

DA federal council chairperson James Selfe yesterday said magistrate Brian Nemavhidi found that Breytenbach, who had been out on R10 000 bail, had broken no law and that the charges, relating to unauthorised access and changing official laptop contents while she was still at the NPA, had no basis.

“The DA is satisfied that justice has prevailed, which should be celebrated.”

Among the allegations probed were that projects had been “fixed”, among them the building of Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg and Cape Town Stadium, the Coega development project in the Eastern Cape, the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg and the Gautrain.