Durban - A whistle-blowers’s bundle of documents, dropped off anonymously at the eThekwini Municipality’s City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU), prompted an internal investigation into the R320 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) contract that implicates former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede.
Mbuso Ngcobo, head of the CIIU told the Durban High Court on Tuesday that the documents were given to an internal investigation team, who then reported to him that there was a case to answer.
Gumede and her co-accused face more than 2 000 charges, including conspiracy to commit corruption, corruption, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act; amounting to over R300m in relation to a DSW contract. Gumede is a member of the provincial Legislature and chairperson of the ANC eThekwini Region.
Ngcobo provided details on how investigations on alleged corruption are conducted using internal systems at the municipality, or by relying on a panel of investigators.
Ngcobo said that after the internal investigation team made its recommendation to him, it was decided that the City should seek outside help in the form of an experienced forensic investigator.
Ngcobo said that they realised the complex nature of the complaint, and that the City did not have sufficient capacity to probe the matter.
Integrity Forensic Solutions (IFS) was among the 17 service providers that were doing forensic investigations for the City as there was a massive backlog of cases to be probed. He said that an interim forensic investigations report prepared by IFS was presented to him in December 2018, and it gave substance to allegations of corruption in the DSW case and had made recommendations.
Ngcobo’s testimony was cut short after complaints that some legal representatives and others in the court gallery could not hear it. This prompted an early adjournment.
Earlier, in her opening address, State advocate Hazel Siramen told presiding Judge Sharmaine Balton that they would show how Gumede and her co-accused manipulated the municipality’s supply chain management processes to enable companies that had close ties to her and the ANC to benefit from the DSW contract.
Ngcobo is expected to continue with his testimony this morning.