The corruption trial of the former mayor of eThekwini Municipality Zandile Gumede and 21 others is set to come back in May after the first session for 2025 ended this week, with the defence accusing State witnesses of giving contradictory evidence.
Gumede is accused alongside the former city manager of eThekwini, Sipho Nzuza, deputy head of Supply chain management in the city Sandile Ngcobo, and 19 others.
They are charged with money laundering, racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act relating to a R300 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender.
When the session started in February, there was an issue of legal fees with the sixth accused, Mthokozisi Nojiyeza, not paying his counsel, advocate Sicelo Zungu.
Gumede also said it was their issue as an accused, adding that she was now using her pension to pay for her legal fees.
Additionally, the court instructed accused number 11 Mzwandile Dludla, accused number 12 Ilanga la Mahlase PTY (LTD), and accused number 10 Hlenga Sibisi to find a new attorney before the conclusion of this trial session.
This was because they could no longer afford the legal services of advocate Paul Jorgensen.
There were also health challenges with accused two, Mondli Michael Mthembu, being hospitalised, State witness having a severe headache, which resulted in early adjournment.
This week, Nojiyeza also fell ill and an early adjournment was taken.
At some stage, the State and the defence were at loggerheads with each other over a document that the State wanted to introduce in a re-examination of its witness.
The media is still prohibited from naming State witnesses.
During cross-examination by senior counsel advocate Griffiths Madonsela, counsel for Nzuza, the court learned that a section in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) policy gave Nzuza permission to deviate from normal tender processes if there were exceptional circumstances.
The State witness from the compliance monitoring unit agreed with Madonsela and said Nzuza had that authority as city manager at the time. The Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) had to recommend it. Ngcobo was the chairperson of the BAC at the time.
Madonsela referred the witness to the transcripts where the BAC approved Nzuza’s request to deviate from normal tender processes.
The DSW unit in 2017 had gone to the BAC to seek authority to invite quotations from experienced service providers for refuse collection in Durban.
This is because the contracts of those service providers were about to expire on December 31, 2017.
The unit said this was an emergency and they would need three months to screen 1 500 new applications for waste collection. The unit’s representatives stated that they did not expect this huge number of applications for the waste collection tender
However, this witness also stated that the compliance checks were not done when ILanga la Mahlase PTY (LTD), Uzuzinekele Trading 31 cc, Omphile Thabang Projects, and El Shaddai Holdings Group cc, were awarded the extension to continue and collect waste in the city.
The court also learned that the executive acquisitions committee (EAC), which was established by Nzuza, picked up an error that he did not approve for a further extension of the service providers to collect waste in 2018.
“How much is provided for this Section 36; why is the long-term plan and contract not concluded; I can’t see the reason for approving this process meaning, therefore, not approved.”
Section 36 allowed for deviation in tender processes.
When senior counsel for Ngcobo, adv Jimmy Howse cross-examined this witness, the court learned that a senior investigator of the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU) was dismissed. This was after a probe into the forensic firm that investigated this matter was conducted.
Another State witness, a contract administrator, who according to the witness from compliance was supposed to give him documents so he could do compliance checks, said it was not her responsibility to do that after the BAC approved the DSW’s request of extending contracts.
The contract administrator said she was under pressure by the fourth accused, Robert Abbu, who at the time was deputy head of the DSW unit. However, Howse has since accused this witness of failing to do her duties and misleading the court.
“I was explaining to you processes and what transpired. If you see me as a liar and everything else, I am not surprised,” the State witness said.
Madonsela is expected to start with his cross-examination of the contract administrator in May.
