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The former mayor of Durban, Zandile Gumede. (Photo: Gallo Images / Daily Sun / Jabulani Langa)
The KwaZulu-Natal African National Congress has doubled down on its reasons to allow former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, accused of corruption, to continue as a sitting member of the provincial legislature.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has blamed the justice system, political abuse of state organs, and the inability of its national structure to provide clear guidelines on how to deal with a growing cohort of individuals criminally charged for its decision to allow Zandile Gumede remains in office in the provincial legislature.
Gumede, who is facing corruption charges for her alleged role in a R430 million tender scam involving Durban Solid Waste (DSW) contracts in the eThekwini metro when she was mayor, received a nod earlier this week. by the provincial province of the ruling party. Integrity Commission to return to his duties in the legislature after taking a leave of absence in August so his matter could be heard by commissioners.
Provincial Secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli expressed his strong support for the decision at a press conference on Thursday when he reported the decisions made at the party’s last PEC session.
“It is completely unacceptable for you to arrest a person, even if that person is not a comrade, a movement leader or any party, you arrest them and almost two years later you keep saying ‘I want to investigate before I can charge them.’ That is a failure of the state and that is the issue that the PEC is raising, “said Ntuli.
Gumede was arrested and appeared before the Durban Magistrates Court for the first time in May 2019. Since then, the matter has been continuously postponed, with the next date set for March 23.
Ntuli correctly said that no indictment had yet been delivered to Gumede or any of his co-defendants.
She said Gumede told the commission that the sooner she and her fellow defendant received their accusations, the better they could be held accountable. Gumede has continued to claim ignorance of the charges, although a detailed affidavit from the lead investigator describes his alleged criminal activities and those of his co-defendants.
“The integrity commission said that at this time there is no basis for this comrade to be removed or set aside. The commission knows that this is an evolving issue and it is dynamic, ”said Ntuli.
Postponing Gumede’s removal from positions of authority now could prove problematic. The eThekwini ANC elective conference, and almost all other regional conferences in the province, are expected to be held before the end of April after being postponed in 2019 due to Covid-19.
Gumede still enjoys considerable support in the city among ANC members and will likely campaign to be the ANC’s regional president for a second term. This will give you a legitimate claim to the post of mayor of eThekwini once again.
Ntuli continued on Thursday: “We not necessarily only blame law enforcement agencies, but they also have to bear some of the blame. The KwaZulu-Natal integrity commission is not concerned with whether the charges are valid or not, but its own determination cannot be independent of that analysis. Comrades say they are going to court and the matter is postponed. There are some people, including some in the ANC, who say that state bodies are being manipulated and used to promote political agendas. “
Gumede faces charges of fraud, fraud by omission, corruption, violation of the Municipal Financial Management Law, violation of the Law on Prevention and Combating Corrupt Activities, violation of the Organized Crime Law and violation of the Municipal Law of Local Government.
According to Ntuli, the only time a member should be forced to resign is when there is a smoking gun and a flood of witnesses, and even then he should wonder how that action affects the party’s image.
His co-defendants include ANC Senior Councilor Mondli Mthembu, eThekwini City Manager Sipho Nzuza, his wife Bagcinele, retired head of Durban’s Solid Waste unit, Robert Abbu, former supply chain management official Sandile. Ngcobo and his wife Vuyisa, as well as various businesses. owners.
In its last appearance in early December, the state requested a postponement as it was digitizing 75,000 pages of documents. The indictments are expected to be delivered at the next court session, otherwise there is a real risk that the case will be removed from the list.
Gumede’s situation is in stark contrast to that of the party’s general secretary, Ace Magashule, who is also facing corruption charges for his alleged role in a R255 million bogus asbestos audit contract while he was Prime Minister of the Free State. He appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court in November on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
This week, the ANC’s national integrity commission recommended that Magashule resign, a decision that did not go unnoticed by Ntuli.
“The purpose of the integrity commission is to determine whether the conduct of an ANC cadre has negative implications on the reputation and image of the ANC,” Ntuli said.
“The national commission and the provincial commission have made different findings in almost similar cases. It is true that there seems to be an inconsistency as to how the integrity commission operates and that is why the PEC has been insisting that unless we have a framework and guideline adopted by the NEC, we are going to have an implementation crisis. from ANC resolutions (that criminally accused ANC members must resign from any elected office) “.
Ntuli said there was also “no absolute clarity as to whether or not a PEC can say ‘wait, we don’t agree.’
“There is nothing clear, neither in the ANC constitution nor in the conference resolution, much less in the guidelines adopted by the NEC that regulate the work and functions of the integrity commissions throughout the country.”
He said there was also no clarity on where the final decision-making lies. He admitted that members of the integrity commissions could also be politically motivated or reach a decision based on their dislike or opposition to the person under investigation.
According to Ntuli, the only time a member should be forced to resign is when there is a smoking gun and a flood of witnesses, and even then he should be wondering how that action affects the party’s image.
“In [Gumede’s case] There are quite a few gray areas, but there will be cases where one person walked out of the ANC office and shot another person in full view of everyone else. [sic]. Yes, that person will not be proven guilty in one day, they will take the legal process of the court, but the ANC will have to ask a question: to what extent what is known to society affects the reputation of the ANC. ? ” DM
