eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede is expected to hand herself over to the Hawks and appear in the Durban Commercial Crimes court on Tuesday on a raft of corruption charges.

In May last year it emerged that Gumede, a strong ally of former president Jacob Zuma, was being investigated by the Hawks for facilitating money laundering‚ fraud and corruption, allegedly to pay back cronies who helped her political ambitions.

The Hawks had launched the investigation into Gumede following a forensic investigation into the awarding of a contract to hire and clean chemical toilets.

In December a City Press article reported that a forensic report by Integrity Forensic Solutions named Gumede and Mondli Mthembu‚ a councillor who chairs the human-settlements committee in council‚ and three other officials who allegedly orchestrated a corruption and money laundering “scam” which saw eThekwini pay R25m to hire about 800 chemical toilets for six months.

Senior sources close to the investigation confirmed that Gumede, with the support of her legal team, will hand herself over to the Hawks to avoid being arrested. She is then expected to appear in the Durban Commercial Crimes court.

Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi didn’t immediately respond to queries.

This is a developing story.