ETHEKWINI City Manager, Sipho Nzuza, is the latest city official to be arrested for the 2017 Durban Solid Waste tender deal.
Nzuza made a brief appearance in a packed Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday morning on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
He was released on R50 000 bail and is due to appear again on 16 April.
Nzuza is the 17th accused person in the DSW case which includes former eThekwini mayor, Zandile Gumede.
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The state revealed that DSW case has now increased from R208-million to a R480-million fraud case.
The tender probe was a result of the City Investigations and Integrity Unit, a division within the city, that investigates corruption.
Senior State prosecutor, Advocate Ashika Lucken, claimed Nzuza was involved in a wide-ranging collusion with municipal officials and service providers regarding the 2017 DSW tender.
The tender was for waste and refuse collection.
Lucken alleged that Nzuza circumvented outcomes of the Supply Chain Management processes.
The state alleges that the tender was awarded to service providers who were not on the city’s database, which is a requirment for receiving a tender from the city.
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Despite this, the tender was awarded to the service providers and was even extended.
The state said Nzuza approved the tender and extension despite being told and aware that the tender was “irregular”.
It also claimed that “extensive communication” had been found betwen Nzuza and the service providers. The state alleged that Nzuza received financial benefits from the implicated service providers which he did not disclose.
Senior counsel, Thandazani Madonsela, who was represenging Nzuza, said he would be co operating with investigators. Madonsela also raised the issue that when Nzuza had handed himself over to police on Tuesday morning his phone was taken by investigators under the guise of safekeeping but he later learned it was for mirror imaging and copying.
He said there was no court order for this action.
“It’s very rich that the state waited until my client was not in the presence of an attorney before asking him for his phone,” he said, adding, “This heavy handed manner prejudices the entire case.”
Magistrate Garth Davis asked the state why they did not aquire a warrant for Nzuz’s phone. Lucken replied that Nzuza had given his phone to investigators voluntarily and had been made aware that it would be copied for investigation purposes.
Nzuza was granted R50 000 bail with conditions, chief among them that he cannot contact any of the witnesses on the audit trail and refrains from being involved in any awarding of tenders.
Nzuza, along with 16 other accused will be back in court on 16 April.
In an affidavit submitted to court, Nzuza said he intended to plead not guilty to the charges.
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