R300m DSW tender: key witness stands firm amid defence scrutiny

A State witness justified her inconsistencies in evidence during the cross-examination in the money laundering and corruption trial of an R300 million Durban solid waste (DSW) tender involving the former mayor of the eThekwini municipality, Zandile Gumede. 

The trial, which has been ongoing for more than six years, has 22 accused. They are all charged with racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act concerning the DSW tender. 

Counsel for Gumede and Allan Robert Abbu, who was the deputy head of DSW in 2017 and 2018, Advocate Jay Naidoo, during the cross-examination referred the witness to a transcript of her interview with Integrity Forensic Solutions (IFS), investigator. As per court order, the media is not allowed to name the witness. 

IFS was appointed by the CIIU to investigate this matter. The Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU) is an investigation unit within the municipality. 

In this interview which was done in September 2018 during the investigation of this matter, the witness, who is a contract administrator in the municipality, told the investigator that Abbu wrote a report and sent it back to her to put her name on it. 

Naidoo said he had a problem with this because the witness was the one who prepared the report and sent it to Abbu. He said what the witness said during the transcript could be the truth or not. The witness maintained that she prepared the report on Abbu’s instructions. 

In this interview, she said she could not remember the contents of the report but she sent it to Abbu so that he could write a motivation for the city manager.

At the time of this report, the DSW unit was seeking to extend contracts of companies that were collecting waste as they were not going to be able to screen the new bidders for this tender. 

She further said she sent Abbu a proforma which could have been any report that was approved. The witness, who testified virtually, said Abbu had instructed her to draft the report for him.

Advocate Naidoo put it to her that she would have mentioned this in her evidence that she had copied from a report that was done. 

“I heard what Abbu said and what he wanted. I have common sense,” the witness replied. 

The witness said Abbu instructed her to write the report and send it to him for amendments. 

“He hadn’t put in a single word; it's all yours,” Naidoo said. 

The witness responded by saying it was an instruction and if Abbu had a problem with the report, he was going to reject it as her senior. 

Moreover, in this session of this trial which will end next week, it is expected that there will be a hearing for the application of the defence. It wants to introduce documents to the court that the appointment of IFS was unlawful. 

Advocate Jimmy Howse SC had also teased the court that a CIIU investigator was dismissed by the city after a probe on the appointment of IFS was conducted.

Naidoo said the disciplinary hearing of this investigator was on the first page of his application. 

Trial continues

nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za