Pretoria -
Prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach “turned a blind eye” in investigating a mineral rights dispute, a witness told her disciplinary hearing on Wednesday.
“This was an absolute turning of a blind eye to anything ICT (Imperial Crown Trading) had to say,” Ronald Mendelow said.
Mendelow, who is the lawyer for ICT, was testifying for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), at its offices in Silverton, Pretoria.
The NPA said it suspended Breytenbach for failing to act impartially in her investigation of a dispute between ICT and Sishen/Kumba Iron Ore over mineral rights.
“(Breytenbach) shows no interest at all in the progress of that investigation... which is really part-and-parcel of the same investigation,” Mendelow said.
Breytenbach denied this.
The investigation she allegedly ignored involved a complaint made by the department of mineral resources (DMR) against Sishen. The DMR accused Sishen of fraud in how it submitted an application for mineral rights.
Instead, Breytenbach focused only on investigating Sishen's complaint that ICT had forged a title deed in its application for prospecting rights, Mendelow said.
“This was clearly a one-sided investigation intent only on nailing ICT.”
Mendelow said he had visited the Hawks officer investigating the DMR complaint in February this year and found only one affidavit in the file. Mendelow said the officer told him no prosecutor had contacted him to give him instructions.
The DMR complaint had “been left in the dark to mould”.
He said Breytenbach should have taken responsibility for the DMR case, as it was the flipside of the Sishen case.
This led to arguments about whether Breytenbach should allocate herself cases, or whether she should only take on a case after being approached by investigating officers.
Breytenbach's counsel Wim Trengove said: “There is no basis in the evidence for an assertion that she should have assumed responsibility for the complaint that the police didn't bring to her.”
He later added: “The DMR case never landed on her desk.”
According to an affidavit by Breytenbach, the DMR investigation was allocated to another prosecutor.
Earlier in the day, Mendelow said Breytenbach had worked too closely with Sishen's lawyer Mike Hellens.
“The legal representatives of a complainant should be kept at arm's length,” he said.
Mendelow sent a letter of complaint about Breytenbach to the then National Director of Public Prosecutions, Menzi Simelane, on October 31 last year, alleging she favoured Sishen in her probe and had an improper relationship with Hellens.
“Not only was advocate Hellens... drafting the key documents for the prosecution, he was also drafting various key... letters for the police unit,” Mendelow said.
Hellens helped draft affidavits used by the police in their investigations.
Breytenbach said it was standard practice in a complex commercial case to call on the help of lawyers who were party to the case. However, Mendelow said the matter was not complex, but a relatively simple fraud case.
The dispute involves a 21.4 percent mining right in the Sishen iron ore mine in the Northern Cape.
Sishen Iron Ore Company, a subsidiary of Kumba Iron Ore Limited, which owns the rest of the rights in the Sishen mine, applied for the 21.4 percent stake.
However, ICT also applied for a prospecting right in the 21.4 percent stake, and was granted it. This led to a court battle involving Kumba, ICT and the mineral resources department.
The High Court in Pretoria then granted Kumba Iron Ore exclusive rights to the Sishen mine. However, in May this year the court granted ICT and the mineral resources department leave to appeal the ruling.
The matter was pending before the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Breytenbach was suspended as regional head of the NPA's specialised commercial crime unit on April 30 this year.
She has argued that acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba suspended her in an attempt to stop her from prosecuting former police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli on fraud and other charges.
Breytenbach has pleaded not guilty to 16 charges brought against her by the NPA.
The hearing continues at 9am on Thursday. - Sapa