Johannesburg - Former prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach should be criminally charged for corruption, misconduct, conflict of interest, fraud and racketeering. Her lifestyle should be audited and her role in a number of companies investigated.
These are the recommendations in a final report by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Integrity Management Unit.
NPA spokesman Nathi Mncube said on Wednesday night that they had referred the report to the national police commissioner for the attention of General Vineshkumar Moonoo, head of the National Detective Services.
“It will be up to the SAPS to decide whether they conduct a follow-up criminal investigation on any of the recommendations in the report,” he said.
The report, which The Star has seen, centres on Breytenbach’s allegedly inappropriate relationships with advocate Andre Bezuidenhout and businessman Nathan Kirsh, spanning more than a decade.
It claims she abused her seniority, defeated the ends of justice, defrauded the NPA and accepted kickbacks from her buddies while pursuing cases purely for their benefit.
While the integrity unit’s draft report into Breytenbach has been widely publicised, the final version of the report has never been made public before.
Breytenbach and the NPA settled their labour dispute by agreeing that she withdraw her appeal at the Labour Appeal Court, and in exchange the NPA waived its rights to pursue any disciplinary proceedings based on the integrity unit report.
Breytenbach’s alleged misdemeanours include soliciting a $1 million (R11m) loan and a R6.3m donation from Kirsh, who had been a complainant in a case worked on several years before.
Last year, the FW de Klerk Foundation, via Kirsh, donated R6.3m to her legal battle against the NPA. The report finds the foundation was used as a shield to transfer the money, and they were not aware of the relationship between Breytenbach and Kirsh.
The report alleges Breytenbach and Bezuidenhout became business partners in a British Virgin Islands-based business, which Kirsh gave an R11m loan towards on Breytenbach’s request.
Deleted files on Breytenbach’s computer showed correspondence between various individuals who were working together to invest in the manufacturing of hitches (tow bars) for the US and South African car manufacturers. Breytenbach would have 10 percent of the shares.
Speaking from the south of France, Kirsh called his involvement in the allegations “benign or obscure”.
“I help more people than I can think about… I’m extremely rich and one of the big advantages of being rich is I can help people… It’s the only pleasure I have out of being very rich.
“There was nothing that Glynnis could do for me,” he said, indicating that the favour could not be construed as a bribe.
“From my perspective she’s a gutsy lady who is prepared to take on the establishment, and the establishment is not always kosher and they just want to get rid of her,” he said.
The report also details Breytenbach’s close relationship with Bezuidenhout. It refers to a letter in which Breytenbach allegedly said she had “always been trying to promote his interests”.
She allegedly motivated for Bezuidenhout to be appointed by the NPA on a retainer of R480 000 a month, and wrote to the Bar Council for him to get silk status.
The report also found that she pursued a case purely to help a company Bezuidenhout was representing in order to win a tender.
Breytenbach has since become a DA MP.
Marius Redelinghuys, the DA spokesman, said on Wednesday the party would be able to comment on the report only once they had studied it in full.
Breytenbach said she had not seen the draft report or the final report.
“I cannot comment on something I have not had the opportunity to read,” she said.
“With regard to your questions as to the allegations contained therein, I reject them with contempt.”