Former school teacher and Media24 journalist, Willem Breytenbach has pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assault and three counts of sexual assault in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday.
The court proceedings unravelled a troubling narrative of abuse spanning several years, affecting multiple victims.
Breytenbach’s guilty plea follows his arrest in December 2019 in Hartenbos, a tranquil coastal town situated in the southern Cape.
Initially charged with 11 counts of indecent assault, the accused faced further complications when four charges were withdrawn in May 2023, leaving six complainants aged between 13 and 18 at the time of the alleged incidents.
During a tense court appearance, Breytenbach, visibly shaken, uttered: “I plead guilty Your Worship,” as the prosecutor, Carmen Daniels, read the charges one by one.
The case against him has attracted considerable media attention, exposing a series of transgressions that began as far back as 1993.
The allegations under scrutiny date back to incidents during Breytenbach’s tenure as a teacher at Langenhoven High School in Riversdal, and later at Gray College in Bloemfontein. Additional charges arise from his interactions with podcaster Deon Wiggett and two employees of his company between 2017 and 2018.
Wiggett, who has since found the courage to share his traumatic experience through his award-winning podcast series, “My Only Story”, has been pivotal in bringing Breytenbach’s actions to public attention.
In one poignant episode, Wiggett disclosed the abuse he suffered at the hands of Breytenbach in the 1990s, bravely shedding light on a painful chapter of his life.
The timeline of alleged crimes reveals a disturbing pattern, with incidents purportedly occurring in various locations, including Cape Town and Bryanston, Johannesburg, between October 2017 and March 2018.
Breytenbach was out on R50 000 bail before the latest proceedings but was taken into custody after being apprehended at a psychologist’s office in the Garden Route while visiting his mother.