Former Scorpions boss claims he was framed

FORMER Scorpions director who is on trial for allegedly planting a bribe in a State prosecutor’s bank account grilled his accuser yesterday, saying that the witness was part of a plot orchestrated by DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach.

Malala Ledwaba – who is a professional lawyer and is representing himself in his fraud, obstruction of justice and corruption case – is accused of depositing R10 000 into Willem van Zyl’s account a few days before Ledwaba’s previous theft trial began in October 2012.

Ledwaba was acquitted of the charge January on appeal after a bruising battle.

Breytenbach and Van Zyl were part of a three-person team that unsuccessfully prosecuted Ledwaba, who alleged that Breytenbach was being used by the former national director of public prosecutions, Leonard McCarthy.

Breytenbach was a prosecutor in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) before being employed by the DA as an MP in 2014. in

Yesterday, at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, Ledwaba charged that Van Zyl was a dishonest witness who caused him to spend three months in jail by changing his (Ledwaba’s) registered home address on the charge sheet, which caused a breach of the bail conditions.

Van Zyl denied the allegation. According to the charge sheet, Ledwaba sent his employee, Elvis Manyama (second accused), to deposit R10 000 into the bank account of Willem van Zyl, a senior State advocate at Pretoria’s Specialised Crime Court.

Court papers stated that the following day, Ledwaba called the NPA’s anti-corruption hotline and made a “false” report that Van Zyl was involved in “acts proscribed by the provisions of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Activities Act, 2004 (Act of 2004)”.

Van Zyl told the court he spent a couple of days trying to establish the identity of the depositor.

Ledwaba and Manyama have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.