Book extract

RULE OF LAW: A MEMOIR by Glynnis Breytenbach with Nechama Brodie (PAN MACMILLAN)

In the memoir, Glynnis’s chapters are interspersed with that of various people who know her. This one is from author and journalist Mandy Wiener.

Inever witnessed Glynnis as a prosecutor. My first encounter with her was covering her disciplinary enquiry in Pretoria in 2012. Often the media can’t cover a full enquiry because our resources are so stretched, but in this instance, because there had been such a fight for media access at the beginning, I thought we needed to take advantage of the fact that we were allowed to cover it, and I made a point of being there.

The enquiry was held at the NPA’s building in Silverton, which, at that stage, was a [Nomgcobo] Jiba stronghold. It was so weird because you would walk in and Glynnis would be there, and she would be greeting everyone. A lot of people were scared to be seen to be greeted by her, because it was ‘enemy’ territory.

Glynnis is one of those people

who remembers everyone. By name. And she always has a story, or can tell you a story, about someone. It’s not just superficial; she really drills down and gets to know people. She makes a point of it. I saw it with her colleagues, and she did this with the press who were covering her enquiry.

We got to know her in the same way she got to know us. She was always very considerate of everyone she encountered. Glynnis hasn’t had children, and she clearly doesn’t want to. But the way I’ve heard her talk about her animals, and about other people’s children… she is very caring and considerate.

She is also very self-deprecating in person, but I find it quite frustrating, actually. It’s not necessary. I think a lot of it is a facade – the self-deprecation and the whole ‘rough, tough’ exterior. To her credit, Glynnis made it through that entire disciplinary enquiry without crying.

I kept expecting her to. I would have been blubbing – either out of rage or sheer frustration. But she just kept on trucking on.

I often wondered if she went home and had a cry at the end of the day. She went through a period when her mother died, and then her father died – all during the enquiry. Even at the time, I thought she must be going through hell.

I do think she’s a lot more sensitive than people realise. I think [her tough exterior] is a defence mechanism. My view is that she cares so deeply about her work, about her cases and about the law, that she almost projects that feeling – which most people would experience in their everyday domestic lives – onto those inanimate things, onto the law, onto her cases.

One thing I remember her talking about: she gets very fucked off if people violate other people. She’s definitely a bit of a crusader in that sense. She’s a great defender of humankind when it comes to justice. She wants to protect the little old ladies. And I think that’s why society needs people like her, because she’s got the capability to do it.

Glynnis can also really vloek. She is probably the most creative vloeker I have ever encountered. But it’s so descriptive and apt and, often, it’s so accurate. And it’s usually done with affection.

I still have a lot of questions, which is the nature of a journalist. But I know that Glynnis has massive integrity, and I know she would lay down her life if she knew it was going to help someone she loved.

Or an animal. She has this deep affection for animals.

I was a little surprised when Glynnis decided to go into politics, especially for the Democratic Alliance. I realise she saw it as an opportunity to continue her work in one way or another; I just never thought she would have the tolerance for politics. She doesn’t suffer fools. I thought she would never put up with what would come her way in parliament, and that she would get frustrated. But, having endured the NPA for so long, she probably thought she could endure anything, really. And I think politics is a good platform for her advocacy – although I can’t help but dwell on the fact that the NPA lost someone with so much expertise, who was so committed to her job.

Glynnis was so specialised and she was dealing with so many high-profile commercial cases. As a result of her enquiry, she spent a year or two in the backwaters of the organisation, sitting in some office with nothing to do, when she had all these cases and all these capabilities. It was so petty.

All those cases were just lying dormant – and most of them still are. It’s an absolute travesty and it makes no sense to me. It’s politics that got in the way of the rule of law.

‘Glynnis can also really vloek. She’s probably the most creative vloeker I’ve ever met. But it’s usually done with affection.’