Zandile Gumede absent at pretrial proceedings

The ANC's eThekwini chair Zandile Gumede was conspicuously absent at the Durban high court on Monday, where pretrial proceedings for her and 21 co-accused were held.

The former mayor and her co-accused are facing fraud and corruption charges in the R320m Durban Solid Waste (DSW) matter. They are facing 2,786 charges, ranging from corruption to money laundering and racketeering.

On Monday, the defence teams and the state appeared before judge Thoba Poyo-Dlwati to iron out issues before the matter proceeds to trial from July 18 to August 31.

Ousted eThekwini municipal manager Sipho Nzuza and another accused, Zithulele Mkhize, were the only two out of 22 accused who were present in court.

Adv Jay Naidoo, who is representing Gumede, said before the matter got under way that only counsel would appear for the pretrial proceedings.

More than 55 witnesses are expected to testify in the matter in which the state fingers Gumede, former head of the city’s infrastructure committee Mondli Mthembu, Nzuza and eThekwini deputy head of supply chain management Sandile Ngcobo as key figures in manipulating a DSW tender for personal and political financial benefits.

The state alleges that soon after Gumede took office in 2016, her “carefully planned” plot to manipulate the tender was hatched as four companies – Uzuzinekela, Ilanga, Omphile and El Shaddai –  were irregularly awarded contracts for refuse removal.

According to the indictment, Gumede received benefits adding up to R2.8m between October 2017 and July 2019.

On Monday, the main bone of contention among the defence teams was that the trial had been scheduled to run in the Pietermaritzburg high court for more than a month.

They told the court that the accused, state witnesses and themselves were all Durban-based and would prefer that the trial be held in the city.

The judge informed them that preparations had been made to hold the case in Pietermaritzburg and that a lack of space in Durban had prompted the decision.

One of the defence advocates, Jimmy Howse, told the court he may be forced to bring an application to compel the state to provide further particulars, as he was “not satisfied” with what has been submitted.

“There is an incomprehensible forensic report which is a large part of the state's case,” he said.

The state, it is understood, has blocked out certain names in the forensic report, to protect their identities.

Another defence advocate, Carl van der Merwe, expressed concern that R9m in assets of the three accused he is representing in the case had been frozen by the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU).

“There are no funds, which is a major problem. Funds must be made available to bring counsel or myself. Without the funds, I may be compelled to withdraw,” he said.

After adjourning the matter for about 30 minutes, Poyo-Dlwati said the trial would be held in Durban instead of Pietermaritzburg.

She ruled that the state had until Friday to inform “all counsel about that issue of redacting of names in the forensic report”.

She also ordered the state to inform the defence teams about Mkhize's legal representation and the issue of the AFU releasing funds to the three accused for their legal fees.

“Any applications need to be filed and served by June 23. The state will have the opportunity to answer by July 1 and the applicants can reply by July 6.”