He married Susanna Hendrina Wilhelmina Meyer on 9 September 1828 in Cape Town.
[2] After his father's death in 1847, and in 1851, van Breda bought the two properties, Oranjezicht and Oudekraal from the deceased estate.
[3][4] Van Breda was a shrewd and intelligent farmer and was a member of the Legislative Council of the Cape Colony’s first elected parliament and a Cape Town municipal commissioner.
In 1860 he became chairman of the Municipal Board of Cape Town, effectively the role of Mayor.
[5] Unfortunately, two of his sons, Dirk Gysbert and the younger Pieter Johannes Albertus, did not inherit their father's good nature.