Mayor out on R50 000 bail

The mayor of eThekwini Zandile Gumede and councillor Mondli Mthembu have been accused of orchestrating a march to Durban City Hall last month that called for the removal of the city manager because he would not sign off on a payment for an illegal tender.

The allegation was made at the Durban Commercial Crimes Court yesterday.

An affidavit by lead Hawks investigator Ngoako Mphaki was read into the record by senior state advocate Ashika Lucken.

Gumede handed herself over to police yesterday before appearing in court alongside Mthembu and service provider Craig Ponnan. The trio have been released on R50 000 bail each.

Gumede is also the chairperson of the ANC in eThekwini. Mthembu is its deputy secretary.

They are part of a group – the others were arrested two weeks ago – alleged to have conspired to swindle the city out of R45 million through the illegal awarding of a Durban Solid Waste (DSW) contract. The other accused include Robert Abbu, DSW’s deputy head for strategic and new developments, and Sandile Ngcobo, the city’s supply chain manager and chairman of the bid adjudication committee.

The accused are all facing charges of fraud and corruption as well as contravention of several acts, among them the Municipal Financial Management Act, Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Organised Crime Act and the Riotous Assemblies Act.

Gumede was also cited for “political interference”.

Gumede and Mthembu are further accused of instructing members of the city’s Bid Specification Committee (BSC), Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) and Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) “on which companies to award tenders to while sitting in these committees”.

Gumede, Mthembu and Ponnan will appear again on August 8 with the other accused.

Investigations into other acts of corruption are continuing, according to the Hawks. – ANA