A member of the Democratic Alliance, Engelbrecht served as the DA City of Tshwane ward 42 councillor until 2015 when she was appointed as a Permanent Delegate to the National Council of Provinces from Gauteng.
[1] Engelbrecht joined the Democratic Alliance and was elected as the councillor for ward 42 in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (Pretoria) in 2011.
She was up against DA Member of the Provincial Legislature, Solly Msimanga, and 2011 mayoral candidate, Brandon Topham for the position.
[5] In November 2018, the former Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille, laid charges of defamation, crimen injuria, fraud against Engelbrecht and three other DA members because of a forged post they shared on social media, appearing to be from the Auditor-General.
The FLC later ruled that they were not irregularly nominated[8] Engelbrecht was sworn in as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on 18 February 2021.