Durban — The defence in the case of former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and her co-accused questioned how the investigative forensic services (IFS) was appointed to investigate the tender irregularities which were being handled internally by the eThekwini’s City’s integrity and investigations Unit (CIIU).
The head of the CIIU Mbuso Ngcobo who is the first witness, told the court last week that they received a stack of documents alerting them to tender irregularities. Advocate Jay Naidoo, SC, representing Gumede and some of her co-accused, alleged that the IFS was appointed without following proper procedures when probing allegations linking the former mayor to the multimillion rand corruption tender.
Gumede and her 21 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 more than R300 million concerning a big Durban solid-waste tender.
Naidoo said the court must be provided with information on how the appointment of the IFS came about. He also said that the way the investigation was carried out was improper.
“This investigation was rushed,” said Naidoo. Moreover, he said the appointment of the IFS was not done through proper channels.
All of this was rushed because Ngcobo had a target and he did not do his job properly, Naidoo claimed.
“He did this because his target was Gumede and he did not follow the proper channels because his end-goal was to hand over the investigation externally, and the arrest was going to be made,” he said.
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Daily News