Conditional arrest warrant for ex-mayor

FORMER eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede has been hit with a conditional warrant of arrest after not appearing in court yesterday.

But her lawyers are not worried as they say this is how “courts operate”.

Gumede and 17 others were scheduled to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court to face corruption charges related to a waste tender scandal of 2017 in eThekwini municipality.

But because of the Covid-19 lockdown that has seen the country’s courts only dealing with urgent and critical matters, they did not appear.

In a strange twist of events, the National Prosecuting Authority yesterday issued a statement announcing that despite prior arrangements having been made and communicated, there was a conditional warrant of arrest against Gumede and her co-accused.

“The matter… was on the court roll,” the NPA said in a brief statement. |