The fraud and corruption trial of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and her 21 co-accused will be back in the High Court in Durban on Monday.
The case relates to a multi-million rand Durban Solid waste tender awarded by the eThekwini municipality in 2016.
Gumede and others including former Municipal Manager Sipho Nzuza face a litany of charges including corruption, fraud, money laundering and contravening the Municipal Finance Management act. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Gumede and her 21 co-accused last appeared in court in August last year.
The State claims the procurement process was rigged to channel contracts to specific companies to gain political support from certain councillors, political and business organisations.
The State dropped about 150 charges against the accused. They were initially charged with more than 2 000 cases.
Before postponing the matter to the 6th of March, the presiding Judge stressed to all parties, that no further postponements of the trial would be entertained.
Gumede, former eThekwini Mayor and current member of the provincial legislature, was arrested in 2019. She is accused of receiving kickbacks to the tune of over R2 million from businesses that were awarded the contracts by the Municipality. This was allegedly done to secure her influence in the procurement process.
Gumede has denied all the charges against her, saying it’s a political conspiracy to tarnish her image.
All the accused remain out on bail.
In the video below, Legal Analyst Attorney Modidima Mannya unpacks Gumede’s court case:
