DA MUST SUPEND BREYTENBACH PENDING COURT OUTCOME

14 February 2016

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip notes the decision of the National Prosecutions Authority to charge its former prosecutor and current DA Member of Parliament, Glynnis Breytenbach, with the obstruction and defeating the ends of justice. It is understood Breytenbach is scheduled to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court regarding these serious charges on Monday.

Breytenbach has been under a cloud since her time at the NPA and,as matters stands, she now has a case to answer in Court regarding her alleged misconduct while at the NPA. As the authority with autonomous powers to decide whether to prosecute or not on the basis of the strength of evidence before it, it is improbable that the NPA would take such a decision against Breytenbach lightly.

Therefore the claim by the DA that the charges are politically motivated are just an act of desperation at being cornered into an embarrassing situation by the alleged actions of its senior MP. There is no smoke without fire. The NPA is an independent institution and it determines its decisions solely on the basis of sound evidence before it and the probability of successful prosecution, not petty political considerations.

Having been under a cloud for some time now, Breytenbach, along with her party, should welcome the charges as a valuable opportunity to clear her name before a neutral Court if she is not guilty as she claims. The law must be allowed to take its course. No one, Breytenbach included, is above the law.

Instead of trying to publicly discredit the NPA for dong its work without fear, favour or prejudice, the DA should be doing what it usually preaches and immediately suspend Breytenbach until the conclusion of the Court proces. It would be undesirable to have someone  continuing to serve as an MP, and even worse, a Shadow Minister of Justice, while facing such serious criminal charges.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, 14 February 2016