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By Nathan Craig 
7h ago
Durban – Bagcinele Cynthia Nzuza, 61, looked clean and composed on the bench at the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday.
She was taken into police custody in the early hours of the same morning before her appearance in court, where she faced charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, corruption and money laundering.
She was added as the 18th defendant in the DSW bidding scandal case along with her husband and former mayor Zandile Gumede, as well as other senior city officials and councilors.
Hawks spokesman Colonel Katlego Mogale said Bagcinele “allegedly facilitated the installation of a built-in kitchen in his mother-in-law’s house and one of the service providers involved in the multi-million dollar solid waste tender allegedly paid R18,000 for the installation”.
But who is Bagcinele or “Gcina” as they call her on social media?
The 61-year-old woman has been married in community of property with her husband since 1989 and they have two children together that they still support. They live at their home in Zimbali Coastal Resort.
She has two bachelor’s degrees, one in education and the other in Library Science, but states on her Linkedin profiles that she is a Christian spiritual counselor and, according to her Facebook, is self-employed.
It is also the sole member of Shunamite Enterprises CC, which owns a vegetable farm in Compensation, Kwazulu-natal, that was acquired in January.
It provides employment and has a current market value of R2.8 million.
The Nzuzas are co-owners of a Cape Town house worth approximately R5 million that was purchased in 2015 and is currently rented by Air BNB. She is also a director and 20% shareholder in a company called Site Flash.
It owns three cars, a Lexus, a Toyota Prius and a Volkswagon Polo for a current combined market value of around R350,000. As a couple, they jointly own personal and real property valued at approximately R500,000.
However, he claims that he has a combined gross monthly income of R40,000 and fluctuating net income after deductibles of around R20,000.
His paternal home, where his 94-year-old father lives, is in Empangeni.
At his first appearance in the Bagcinele court, he requested bail which prosecutor Hazel Siraramen said she would not object to, but asked to be set at 50,000 rand, saying that he had substantial assets and means to pay.
Her lawyer, Bheki Manyathi, requested that bail be set at R15,000, as she was told that R 50,000 would not be affordable because her husband was released on bail of R50,000 after his arrest in March and it would cost her to the family a total of R 100 000.
Judge Dawn Somaroo granted bail of R30,000 on the condition that she inform the police at least 48 hours in advance if she intended to leave the province or the country and also inform the police upon her return. He was ordered not to have any contact with anyone who works for supply chain management in the municipality.
It was not considered a flight risk, but he surrendered his passport and was told that he could not request further travel documents until the conclusion of the case.
The couple will reappear in court on December 10 along with their co-defendants.
The plot thickened on Tuesday in the R430 million Durban solid waste fraud and corruption scandal (DSW) when Bagcinele, the wife of ethekwini municipality manager Sipho Nzuza, was indicted number 18.
Sunday grandstand
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