‘Mayor plotted protest’
ETHEKWINI mayor Zandile Gumede and councillor Mondli Mthembu allegedly orchestrated a march in Durban last month that called for the city manager’s removal because he wouldn’t sign off on a payment for an illegal tender.
The allegation was made yesterday at the Durban Commercial Crimes Court where Gumede and Mthembu appeared on graft charges.
The affidavit of lead Hawks investigator Ngoako Mphaki, which senior State advocate Ashika Lucken read into the record, stated: “In April, information was received that mayor Gumede incited a march to the (Durban) city hall to request the removal of (city manager Sipho Nzuza) from office on the grounds that he refused to take orders from the mayor to make the irregular payments.
“On April 16, at about 2pm, a large crowd gathered at city hall protesting and demanding the removal of the city manager. Information is at hand that mayor Gumede and councillor Mthembu orchestrated these events.”
Gumede handed herself over to police before appearing in court alongside Mthembu and service provider Craig Ponnan. They were released on R50 000 bail each. Gumede is also chairperson of the ANC’s eThekwini region – the biggest in the country. Mthembu is its deputy secretary. They are part of a group alleged to have conspired to swindle the city out of R45 million through the illegal awarding of a Durban Solid Waste (DSW) contract. The other arrested accused include Robert Abbu, DSW’s deputy head for strategic developments; and the city’s supply chain manager and chairman of the bid adjudication committee, Sandile Ngcobo.
The accused all face multiple charges including fraud and corruption. Mphaki’s affidavit said DSW appointed refuse removal service providers for the city for three years. The contract would expire around 2016.
The process to find new contractors started about a year before the expiry.
Abbu “deliberately delayed initiating the procurement process to appoint suppliers for a new term. He used the delay to misrepresent the fact that there was an emergency [which allows diversion from normal processes] and that the formal public procurement processes of eThekwini could not be followed in the appointment of suppliers for the new term”, according to the affidavit.
Abbu allegedly took control of the process to appoint suppliers for the new contract.
He is said to have divided the work previously done by 27 suppliers, between four suppliers, none of whom had the resources or expertise to provide the services.