Civic groups condemn Zandile Gumede’s MPL appointment

The Coalition of the Poor, a collective of Durban civic organisations, has slammed the appointment of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede’s appointment as a member of the provincial legislature (MPL).

“The Coalition of the Poor condemns and expresses great dissatisfaction with the swearing in of former eThekwini mayor and corruption-accused Zandile Gumede as an MPL yesterday [Wednesday].

“This decision by the ANC to promote her, despite serious charges against her, is a slap in the face for the long-suffering citizens of eThekwini,” it said in a statement.

The group is represented by some of the city’s top civic organisations, including Abahlalibasemjondolo, Right2Know Campaign, Poor Flat Dwellers Movement, Active Citizens Movement, Market Users Committee, Ubunye bamaHostela, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance and the KZN Subsistence Fishermen group.

The collective said Gumede subjected citizens to “a terrible lack of service delivery”, as well as the alleged looting of city resources and alleged violent evictions during her tenure as mayor.

“A tenure as leader should never be remembered by the fear, shame and disgust felt by citizens. The low standard that the ruling party employs to deploy cadres is symbolised by the argument which they use, which is ‘innocent until proven guilty’.”

Gumede currently faces charges of corruption in a Durban court, along with 17 others, over a Durban Solid Waste tender worth hundreds of millions of rand.

‘Where are the morals?’

The civic group said, while the argument met the legal criteria, it fell short of moral law, “which all leaders should put first and foremost”.

“To us, the people on the ground, it is evident that the ANC is not interested in the plight of the people, but only in protecting their own. This talk of innocent until guilty is a smokescreen – they are unwilling and unable to discipline their members, who have become a law unto themselves.”

DA caucus leader in eThekwini Nicole Graham also laid into Gumede shortly after the announcement and said, for her three years of service from 2016 to 2019, Gumede had brought the city to its knees.

She criticised the ANC for not taking action against Gumede, who has remained an ordinary councillor.

Graham said 62 councillors, who were named in court as having worked with Gumede, were also not suspended, “despite four of them having also been arrested”.

She said Gumede’s grip on eThekwini’s politics continued unabated.

“Her elaborate expanded public works programme (EPWP) scheme, which has been repeatedly flagged by both the Audit Committee and the Auditor-General, has twice been refunded by the new city leadership.”

Graham believed it was obvious that Gumede had protection in high places.

“Why else would she earn a promotion back to the legislature when her absolute disgraceful behaviour is so clear for all to see?”

‘We welcome Gumede’

ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela, however, welcomed her appointment and also subscribed to the notion of “innocent until proven guilty”.

He said the party was aware of detractors using Gumede’s court case “to criticise the appointment”.

“However, we subscribe to the notion of innocent until proven guilty as enshrined in our justice system and, as such, there is nothing untoward about the appointment of Cde Gumede.”

He added: “As a firm believer in women empowerment, the ANC KZN is confident that Cde Gumede, with her experience, is a worthwhile addition to the legislature.”

In commenting on Thursday, Gumede said she was a good worker, and blamed the media for “denting her name”.

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