Lead investigator in Gumede case survives hit in Germiston

The Hawks have announced that security for investigators in the fraud and corruption case against suspended eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede has been increased, following an assassination attempt on the lead investigator in the matter.

The investigator was ambushed outside his home in Germiston last Friday, where he was shot and wounded.

The Hawks have only now made the news known, and said security for investigators in similar matters will also be upgraded.

Gumede is expected back in the Specialised Commercial Court in Durban on Thursday, where she, together with eThekwini infrastructure portfolio committee chairperson Mondli Mthembu and businessman Craig Ponnan, faces charges relating to an alleged dodgy tender of R208 million in the Durban Solid Waste (DSW) department.

“We can confirm that there was an attack on one of the task members . The incident took place in Johannesburg. The case itself is still under investigation we don’t know the motive but we have taken serious exception to this incident and hence we have now enhanced security measures around the members.

“But with this attack it means then that we need to take serious precautions in terms of making sure that in all these case, the clean audit cases be it in KZN, in Bloemfontein anywhere in the country, their security is not compromised,” Hawks spokesperson Hanguani Mulaudzi told the SABC.

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