Is much much easier to put out a fire before it gets to big. Now where is that secrecy bill?
"Today the Sunday Times can reveal
that, in recent weeks, Breytenbach
locked horns over the R2-billion
Imperial Crown Trading (ICT)/Kumba
fraud case and the prosecution of crime
intelligence boss Richard Mdluli. Hawks investigators say in court papers
that those "suspected to be
responsible" for the ICT fraud include
Jagdish Parekh, a business partner of
the powerful Gupta family, and
Prudence "Gugu" Mtshali, a confidante of Deputy President Kgalema Mothlante. In November, ICT's lawyers held
meetings with former National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Menzi
Simelane to highlight what they
claimed was an "abuse of power" by
the prosecution team, including Breytenbach. The NPA promptly hauled Breytenbach
off the ICT case, but she refused to give
up her other cases, saying she should
either be fired or left alone. Weeks later, on December 1, Simelane
was removed from his position by the
Supreme Court of Appeal, which ruled
his appointment was "inconsistent with
the constitution". President Jacob Zuma
appointed Nomgcobo Jiba to act in Simelane's place, shortly after
appointing Lawrence Mrwebi as
Breytenbach's boss. Like Simelane, Jiba and Mrwebi have a
chequered history: both were
suspended in 2008 over claims they
tried to protect corrupt ex-police chief
Jackie Selebi from arrest. Late last year, Mrwebi had a
confrontation with Breytenbach when
he ordered her to drop the fraud case
against Mdluli. Breytenbach insisted the
charges should be tested in court. On Wednesday, Breytenbach was given
a "notice of intention to suspend"
because, the notice said, she had
"abused her power". She was given
until tomorrow to provide reasons why
this should not happen. At the same time, the NPA decided to
provisionally withdraw the charges
against Mdluli. Said an advocate who asked not to be
named: "It's very peculiar that at the
time she was suspended, the Mdluli
charges are dropped without consulting
her as the prosecutor." NPA spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said he
could not "discuss" the reason for
Breytenbach's suspension, but said it
was "not related to Mdluli". Breytenbach's attorney, Gerhard
Wagenaar, would not comment on
whether the Mdluli and ICT matters
were core to the matter. "Obviously, we're disputing what they
say, and we will respond to their
letter," he said. It is understood that the NPA is pitching
its case against Breytenbach on
accusations levelled at her by ICT in
court papers in November. In those legal papers, ICT boss Phemelo
Sehunelo and its directors accuse
Breytenbach of "acting in cahoots" with
Kumba's advocate, Mike Hellens, to
victimise his company, while refusing
to investigate Kumba. Sehunelo says ICT raised Breytenbach's
"irregular conduct" with Simelane and
Hawks boss Anwa Dramat. He says that
in court, "there was an unnaturally
close relationship" between
Breytenbach and Hellens's team and they were seen "huddled together in
discussions". Sehunelo says Breytenbach and the
investigators do not view any Kumba
bosses as suspects, "which
demonstrates that they are not acting
free from outside influences". Legal experts rubbish this claim. Barry
Roux, an advocate who said he had
often acted in opposition to
Breytenbach, said the argument that
she is compromised because she talked
to Kumba's lawyers is deeply flawed. "As advocates, we act in many cases for
a complainant and you liaise with the
prosecution and help them understand
the case. There's nothing funny or
strange about that," he said. Breytenbach's suspension will be a
boon to white-collar criminals. Besides
ICT, she led the prosecution of ponzi
mastermind Barry Tannenbaum and
construction firms that fiddled World
Cup tenders. In the ICT case, a title deed was stolen
from Kumba's mining rights application
for 21% of the Sishen mine, lodged at
the Department of Minerals and Energy
in 2009. That title deed was
photocopied, with a white card placed over the official stamp in a crude
attempt to hide its origin, and the copy
added to ICT's successful application."
"Today the Sunday Times can reveal
that, in recent weeks, Breytenbach
locked horns over the R2-billion
Imperial Crown Trading (ICT)/Kumba
fraud case and the prosecution of crime
intelligence boss Richard Mdluli. Hawks investigators say in court papers
that those "suspected to be
responsible" for the ICT fraud include
Jagdish Parekh, a business partner of
the powerful Gupta family, and
Prudence "Gugu" Mtshali, a confidante of Deputy President Kgalema Mothlante. In November, ICT's lawyers held
meetings with former National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Menzi
Simelane to highlight what they
claimed was an "abuse of power" by
the prosecution team, including Breytenbach. The NPA promptly hauled Breytenbach
off the ICT case, but she refused to give
up her other cases, saying she should
either be fired or left alone. Weeks later, on December 1, Simelane
was removed from his position by the
Supreme Court of Appeal, which ruled
his appointment was "inconsistent with
the constitution". President Jacob Zuma
appointed Nomgcobo Jiba to act in Simelane's place, shortly after
appointing Lawrence Mrwebi as
Breytenbach's boss. Like Simelane, Jiba and Mrwebi have a
chequered history: both were
suspended in 2008 over claims they
tried to protect corrupt ex-police chief
Jackie Selebi from arrest. Late last year, Mrwebi had a
confrontation with Breytenbach when
he ordered her to drop the fraud case
against Mdluli. Breytenbach insisted the
charges should be tested in court. On Wednesday, Breytenbach was given
a "notice of intention to suspend"
because, the notice said, she had
"abused her power". She was given
until tomorrow to provide reasons why
this should not happen. At the same time, the NPA decided to
provisionally withdraw the charges
against Mdluli. Said an advocate who asked not to be
named: "It's very peculiar that at the
time she was suspended, the Mdluli
charges are dropped without consulting
her as the prosecutor." NPA spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said he
could not "discuss" the reason for
Breytenbach's suspension, but said it
was "not related to Mdluli". Breytenbach's attorney, Gerhard
Wagenaar, would not comment on
whether the Mdluli and ICT matters
were core to the matter. "Obviously, we're disputing what they
say, and we will respond to their
letter," he said. It is understood that the NPA is pitching
its case against Breytenbach on
accusations levelled at her by ICT in
court papers in November. In those legal papers, ICT boss Phemelo
Sehunelo and its directors accuse
Breytenbach of "acting in cahoots" with
Kumba's advocate, Mike Hellens, to
victimise his company, while refusing
to investigate Kumba. Sehunelo says ICT raised Breytenbach's
"irregular conduct" with Simelane and
Hawks boss Anwa Dramat. He says that
in court, "there was an unnaturally
close relationship" between
Breytenbach and Hellens's team and they were seen "huddled together in
discussions". Sehunelo says Breytenbach and the
investigators do not view any Kumba
bosses as suspects, "which
demonstrates that they are not acting
free from outside influences". Legal experts rubbish this claim. Barry
Roux, an advocate who said he had
often acted in opposition to
Breytenbach, said the argument that
she is compromised because she talked
to Kumba's lawyers is deeply flawed. "As advocates, we act in many cases for
a complainant and you liaise with the
prosecution and help them understand
the case. There's nothing funny or
strange about that," he said. Breytenbach's suspension will be a
boon to white-collar criminals. Besides
ICT, she led the prosecution of ponzi
mastermind Barry Tannenbaum and
construction firms that fiddled World
Cup tenders. In the ICT case, a title deed was stolen
from Kumba's mining rights application
for 21% of the Sishen mine, lodged at
the Department of Minerals and Energy
in 2009. That title deed was
photocopied, with a white card placed over the official stamp in a crude
attempt to hide its origin, and the copy
added to ICT's successful application."
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