Judge clashes with defence counsel in Zandile Gumede's corruption trial

The defence counsel in the ongoing corruption trial involving former mayor of eThekwini Municipality Zandile Gumede was at loggerheads with the judge as he imposed unfair questions on the witness; in return, he accused the judge of belittling him.  

Advocate Graham Kerr-Philips, who is representing Gumede’s co-accused Bongani Dlomo, his wife Khoboso Dlomo, and Omphile Thabang Projects, started his cross-examination of a State witness, who cannot be named as per court order, on Monday afternoon.

Since then, Judge Sharmaine Balton has kept on asking where the cross-examination was headed and what he was trying to achieve. 

This matter has 22 accused, and they are facing multiple charges, including money laundering, racketeering, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act, related to a R300 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender. 

On Tuesday morning, Kerr-Philips continued with his cross-examination of a contract administrator in the municipality. He questioned her about the emails between her, other municipal staff members, and the fourth accused, Allan Robert Abbu, who was the deputy head of the DSW unit. 

Some emails contained quotation documents from the five companies that are charged in this matter, Omphile, Ilanga la Mahlase PTY (LTD), Uzuzinekela Trading 31 cc, El Shaddai Holdings Group CC, and Umvuyo Holdings CC. 

Kerr-Philips asked the witness about how many emails she received a day during 2017, and the witness said she couldn’t remember, but there were many.

He asked her if she had deleted emails, and she said yes. He then asked how many emails she deleted. 

“You can’t ask someone about emails, they deleted in 2017,” Judge Balton objected. 

He continued to ask the witness about a mirror image of emails from Abbu’s laptop, and Judge Balton objected that this witness would not know about those emails. 

During this time, the witness, who testifies virtually, has had to be excused from the court.

And Judge Balton asked where the cross-examination was headed, the State appeared to be unhappy as they sometimes stood up to object to Kerr-Philips' questions. 

While the witness was excused, Kerr-Philips told Judge Balton that she was belittling him.

Balton replied by saying he was not going to allow him to pose unfair questions to the witness. 

“I don’t see where you are going with your questions, but I am allowing them. I am not belittling you,” she said. 

After what seemed to have been bickering, Kerr-Philips finished his cross-examination.

Additionally, Abbu is not present in court but is attending proceedings virtually as he is wheelchair-bound.

In the morning, the State told the court that it had received his medical report.

Advocate Jay Naidoo, counsel for Abbu, is expected to address the court on this before it adjourns for Wednesday. 

The trial continues.

nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za