THE retired head of Durban Solid Waste (DSW) told the court that accused four ended up being the head of the unit without his knowledge.
This was during the trial of the former eThekwini Municipality Mayor Zandile Gumede and others including the former city manager, Sipho Nzuza, in the Durban High Court on Monday, 20 November.
Gumede is on trial with 21 co-accused on charges that include conspiracy to commit corruption, corruption, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act, and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act in a contract worth more than R300 million related to a Durban Solid Waste (DSW).
There were delays in the trial, but on Monday, 20 November, the matter proceeded as the defence began cross-examining the retired head of (DSW), who can't be named due to security reasons.
Led by advocate Jay Naidoo, the retired head told the court that accused four, Robert Abbu, was made the head of the unit without his knowledge.
The head also revealed that 2017 was a challenging year in terms of waste collection. He said it was challenging because of the public protests as unemployed people wanted work as well as businesspeople who wanted tenders.
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"Some of the in-house workers were now afraid to go out in certain areas as municipality cars were burnt during the protests. As this happened in December and there were no contractors, an emergency plan had to be made," he said.
Advocate Naidoo asked the head if Abbu was the cause of all the chaos, and the head replied saying that Abbu wasn't the cause.
However, Abbu was the deputy head of DSW and was responsible for the management of the procurement processes related to the DSW contract.
According to the state, Abbu contravened the statutes, regulations, and protocols related to the supply chain management process of the DSW tender to circumvent the outcome of the DSW tender in favour of juristic entities and/or individuals proximate to the accused and the political party to which accused 1 and 2 are aligned.
Between the period of 2016 and 2017, Abbu began the process for the renewal of the DSW contract and engaged in SCM functions and decisions relating to the DSW Tender wherein approximately 1088 quotations were received.
The process of evaluating these quotations could not be timeously completed. The state further alleged Abbu was appointed by the then city manager, Sipho Nzuza (accused three) as the “head of special projects.
Gumede's spokesman, Siphelele Jiyane, said they were pleased that the matter is now proceeding following the delays which resulted in Gumede being emotional.
The matter was adjourned to Tuesday, 21 November.
