The National Prosecuting Authority will not go down without a fight - it is determined to fire senior prosecutor and corruption-buster Glynnis Breytenbach.
The NPA yesterday announced that it considered the not guilty finding in Breytenbach's disciplinary hearing "factually incorrect and legally unsustainable".
On Monday the hearing's chairman, Selby Mbenenge, dismissed all 15 of the charges that had been levelled against Breytenbach.
"The guilt of the employee on this plethora of charges has not been established," he ruled.
Breytenbach was suspended 13 months ago for allegedly having "improper relations" with Sishen lawyer Mike Hellens while investigating a mining rights case involving Kumba Iron Ore and Imperial Crown Trading.
In March, a parallel arbitration hearing at the Public Service Bargaining Council found Breytenbach's suspension to have been both procedurally and substantively fair.
Breytenbach has insisted that she was suspended to stop her from prosecuting suspended police crime intelligence boss Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli for fraud and corruption.
Breytenbach's lawyer, Gerhard Wagenaar, said yesterday: "We are consulting in terms of this latest development."
NPA spokesman Nomilo Mpondo said: "The findings have serious implications [for] the enforcement of discipline in the NPA and will elevate insubordination, disobedience and unethical conduct into cceptable practice in the workplace.
"Due to the serious implications, the NPA has decided to take the chairman's findings on review to court.
"The court will be asked to set aside the findings and replace them with a finding of guilty," she said.
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