Anonymous ‘walk-in’ provided evidence against Gumede and others

A key witness in the trial of former eThekwini mayor and ANC heavyweight Zandile Gumede and 21 others revealed how the fraud allegations were dropped off by an anonymous “walk-in” at the City Integrity and Investigation Unit (CIIU).

The witness, Mbuso Ngcobo, who was the head of the unit, testified at the Durban high court on Tuesday that a thick file containing all the information and proof of the corrupt activities was received in 2017.

Gumede and the others face several charges — including conspiracy to commit corruption, corruption, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act — for the multimillion-rand Durban Solid Waste (DSW) fraud and corruption amounting to more than R300 million.

ALSO READ | WATCH | Zandile Gumede supporters hoping for a speedy trial

Ngcobo said the unit he headed was a department in the eThekwini municipality and its mandate was to conduct investigations on receiving allegations of fraud/misuse of funds and corruption in the municipality.

He said allegations or tip-offs were received through the city’s telephonic hotline, e-mails and letters, and whistleblowers could also personally drop off evidence or report corruption allegations.

READ MORE

Life sentence for man who brutally murdered his pregnant girlfriend

“Most people have become aware of our unit and know that they could report cases without disclosing their identity and it would be protected,” he said.

All allegations go through processes of assessment and evaluation by the teams in the unit, but he made the call on whether or not an investigation would be conducted. “I also instruct who should do the investigation with the team,” he said.

ALSO READ | Trial postponements ‘hurting Zandile Gumede’s political ambitions’

Ngcobo added that in some cases similar to the one before the court, they would let external forensic investigators handle cases due to their nature.

He added that there were 17 external private investigating companies that were on the City’s panel, approved to conduct investigations on behalf of the City when instructed.

He said the 17 companies were approved by former municipal manager Sipho Nzuza.

“From 2017 to 2019 there was an external forensics company called Integrity Forensic Services (IFS) working on the matter before the court,” he said.

Throughout his testimony, Ngcobo emphasised that the unit used fairness to choose which private companies were appointed, even to the extent that each of the 17 companies received investigative projects equally and no company was awarded more than one contract at a time.

The case continues on Wednesday.