The State has rejected the plea and sentence agreement proposal of sex assault accused Willem Breytenbach – but he has been given an opportunity to submit a second one.
Breytenbach was arrested in 2019 after podcaster Deon Wiggett alleged in the true-crime podcast series, My Only Story, that Breytenbach had sexually assaulted him.
Wiggett’s story encouraged others with similar allegations to lodge complaints, and, after an investigation, Breytenbach was charged with 14 counts of indecent assault or sexual assault.
Later, on application, some of the charges were dropped.
His lawyer, advocate JC de Jager, submitted a proposed plea and sentence agreement on his behalf, and Wednesday was the day for feedback.
There was a long wait as other cases were heard in the Cape Town Regional Court, and at one point, the prosecutor and De Jager went to Magistrate Amori Graf’s chambers.
Breytenbach was eventually called from the corridor and arrived carrying a backpack, waiting to hear the outcome.
“The proposal, unfortunately, has not succeeded,” prosecutor Carmen Daniels announced. “It has failed.”
The proposal is not public.
It is understood that a report on proposed sentencing is still required from a corrections officer.
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Breytenbach was given leave to get the report and to resubmit a plea and sentence proposal that includes the additional information.
The proposed agreement will also have to be discussed with the men who also laid charges against Breytenbach after they made contact with Wiggett during the podcast.
Breytenbach has already succeeded in getting four charges removed on the grounds that the dates were too vague to enable him to prepare a defence.
The men were teenagers at the time of the alleged offences. Some have not been able to remember exact dates.
The case has been dogged by delays, firstly because of the Covid-19 lockdown, then due to other factors, such as technical problems in court, or the prosecutor’s availability.
The matter was postponed to 10 November for the outcome of a possible new proposal.
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