NPA plays cards close to its chest on readiness to prosecute Zandile Gumede

A few hours before former eThekwini mayor, KZN ANC MPL Zandile Gumede and 17 co-accused return to the Durban commercial crimes court to face their corruption charges, the State has refused to divulge its state of readiness.

Gumede and her co-accused, including suspended eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza and his wife Bagcinele and senior ANC councillor, Mondli Mthembu, face charges linked to a R430 million waste tender the eThekwini municipality issued in 2017 while she was mayor.

The State alleges the tender was rigged, Gumede had a hand in it and allegedly pocketed undue financial benefits.

When the matter was heard on September 10, State prosecutor Ashiken Lucken argued for a postponement before magistrate Dawn Somaroo, saying the State wanted to conclude a forensic report which was key to its case.

The forensic report is based on the bank statements ofthe suspects and some people close to them and was meant to show the illicit flow of money.

Responding to Independent Media about its state of readiness, KZN director of public prosecutions, advocate Elaine Zungu, said they would reveal that only when the matter was heard in court.

“Kindly take note that since the last occasion, (when) we requested a postponed for the finalisation of the investigations which included in the main the forensic report, we will indicate to the court only whether or not same is finalised, on December 10,” she said.

Zungu said the State had not finalised the list of witnesses because it had not decided which information would be used to try to secure convictions.

Regarding the list of witnesses the State intends to call to secure its case, we will determine once a pretrial has been conducted and the parties have settled on what will be disputed and what will be admitted as evidence. This is a court process which will have to take place before any comment to the media can be made,” Zungu said when asked how many witnesses there would be.

However, when the case was last heard, Lucken told magistrate Somaroo they had taken statements from 450 witnesses and would probably bring those interviewed as their witnesses when the matter went to trial.

Gumede said that according to their understanding, the State has indicated that it was ready and would serve the charges on them.

“What we know is that they are ready and they will be charging (spelling out the charges and the information they relied upon to formulate them) us tomorrow. That’s what we know,” Gumede said on Wednesday.

It was unclear whether Gumede’s supporters would once again defy the Covid-19 regulations and gather outside the court to offer her moral support.

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Source: IOL

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