State’s case against Zandile Gumede and co hangs by a thread

FORMER eThekwini Mayor, Zandile Gumede MPL returns to court today, (Thursday, 10 September), for what could be the penultimate day for the case.

Gumede and 16 other co-accused will be appearing in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud and corruption relating to a R430 million Durban Solid Waste tender that was granted in 2017 by eThekwini Municipality.

The case has been postponed a number of times with the last postponement in July when Magistrate Dawn Somaroo gave the prosecutors six weeks to finalise collecting their evidence.

Gumede, who is out on R50 000 bail, was arrested in May 2019. Speaking outside court during her last appearance, Gumede said the postponements were a sign that there was no case against her.

ALSO READ: WATCH: State’s case against former Durban mayor, co-accused postponed again

Advocate Jay Naidoo, who is representing Gumede and two others, said if the state is not ready on Thursday he will bring in an application for the matter to be struck off the roll.

In the meantime, Gumede has since been appointed as an African National Congress Member of Provincial Legislature.

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal defended their appointment of Gumede by saying she was innocent until proven guilty.

The ANC KZN later went back on their decision by asking Gumede to “step aside” from her MPL duties while she appears before the party’s integrity commission.        

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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

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