Zandile Gumede's R320 million fraud case adjourned as State seeks audit reports
Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede in the Durban High Court.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
The Durban High Court said it was left with no choice but to postpone the R320 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender fraud case involving Zandile Gumede on Wednesday morning, due to the State not being able to access audit reports from the eThekwini Municipality.
Gumede, the former mayor of eThekwini, is on trial with 21 others for numerous charges, including money laundering, racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act, relating to the R320 million DSW tender.
The State, which is currently leading evidence from a new witness, was on Tuesday ordered to obtain the audit report regarding the household numbers that needed to be serviced in the 2016/17 financial year.
This came after Gumede's counsel, advocate Jay Naidoo SC, objected while the witness, who cannot be named, was leading evidence.
Naidoo stated they would like to access the reports to ensure they were consistent with the witness's oral evidence.
The witness told the court earlier this week that in a report submitted to the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) on December 19, 2017, the number of formal and informal households that needed to be serviced was doubled, while some had been tripled.
The Solid Waste Unit went to the BAC on December 14, 2017, to seek authority to invite quotations from experienced service providers for waste collection and illegal dumping services in the city.
In a report, the unit had also included that this was an emergency, as there would be no one to collect waste in January 2018. On December 19, the BAC approved those quotations.
The fourth accused, Robert Allan Abbu, served as the deputy head of the unit at the time.
The witness, who said she was on leave during this time, said she sent an email to Abbu in February 2018.
She stated that she would not be able to defend the number of households that went to the BAC, to the auditors.
'The contract value is misaligned, I am afraid I won't be able to defend this with auditors,' she read her email to the court.
On Wednesday, counsel appointed by the National Prosecuting Authority, advocate Viwe Notshe SC, told the court that they had made enquiries with the municipality on Tuesday, and the box with the audit report was found.
'We are unable to get them today to be able to proceed,' he said.
Notshe asked for the matter to be remanded until Thursday.
'It seems there is no choice; we have to adjourn till tomorrow (Thursday),' said Judge Sharmaine Balton.
On Tuesday, the matter was also adjourned early to allow the State to obtain the audit reports.
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