Durban — The Durban High Court is set to hear from witnesses how they were instructed to choose only sub-contractors that were aligned to a certain faction of the ANC to piggyback on the four main contractors of the DSW tender that was irregularly awarded.
This was according to the State, which revealed this in its opening address on Monday, when the trial against former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, 17 others and four companies which were the main contractors in the DSW tender in question began.
Gumede and her co-accused face over 2000 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 R300 million in relation to a DSW tender.
On Tuesday, the first witness in the case began leading evidence.
Mbuso Ngcobo, the head of eThekwini’s City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU), so far, has taken the court through how the DSW tender came to be investigated.
He continues with his testimony on Wednesday.
During the State’s address, State Advocate Hazel Siramen said that various councillors of eThekwini, who were inaugurated at the same time as Gumede and whose identities have been withheld for security concerns, would present evidence on how she and her co-accused Mondli Mthembu had addressed them and informed them that the DSW tender was to be renewed, which would benefit the councillors of eThekwini.
“They will testify that Accused 1 (Gumede) had informed them that the time for Radical Economic Transformation (RET) had arrived and that accused 2 (Mthembu) would elaborate on how the RET programme would be implemented in eThekwini.”
It’s alleged that Gumede and Mthembu had informed them that the old DSW contract was due to expire, and four contractors would be appointed for the new DSW contract and that Community-Based Contractors (CBCs) would be appointed as sub-contractors to the four main contractors of the new DSW contract.
“These witnesses will testify that they were instructed to go back to their wards and to source the details of CBCs that could be appointed as sub-contractors to the four main contractors. The councillors will testify further that each ward councillor was to appoint between four to five CBCs, of which one would be used as a vehicle through which the respective ward councillors could benefit from the payments that would accrue from the main contractor to these CBCs.”
She said they would state that they were informed that the remaining CBCs should be appointed for the benefit of the other structures of the ANC and business forums like the Amadelangokubona Business Forum, as well as the MKMVA.
“Further, the criteria that the councillors should use to appoint CBCs were that the members or directors had to be members of the ANC and had to be aligned to a certain faction of the ANC,” she said.
Siramen said that the councillors of other political parties were excluded from participating in this RET programme that Gumede and Mthembu had created in relation to the new DSW contract.
“They will testify that councillors, namely accused 6 (Mthokozisi Nojiyeza), accused 7 (Sduduzo Khuzwayo) and accused 8 (Bhekokwakhe Phewa), were amongst the councillors that formed part of this RET process. The councillors will present further evidence that they received instructions from Accused 1 (Gumede), 2 (Mthembu), 6 (Nojiyeza), 7(Khuzwayo), and/or 8 (Phewa) to descend into the administrative and SCM arena of eThekwini which contravened the MFMA, and Systems Act by appointing CBCs linked to councillors and political organisations like business forums, as subcontractors to the main contractors, in order to obtain financial proceeds from the DSW tender in this manner.”
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