THE former city manager's wife will now represent herself in court.
Accused number nine, Cynthia Nzuza, wife of former city manager of eThekwini Municipality Sipho Nzuza, was dropped by her lawyer due to financial difficulties.
This left her with no option but to represent herself as she is also unable to get legal aid. This was revealed in the corruption trial of former eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede and others, including former city manager Sipho Nzuza, in the Durban High Court on Tuesday, 3 October.
They are facing charges in connection with a tender fraud of more than R300 million at Durban Solid Waste (DSW). The trial is scheduled to last two weeks. After announcing that the ninth accused, Cynthia Nzuza, would no longer be represented, prosecutor Lucken Ashika said she had spoken to Cynthia, and they had agreed that he would give Cynthia all the documents so that she could go through them.
"I will give her the documents through a USB stick. She will go through them herself," prosecutor Ashika said.
Judge Sharmaine Balton told Cynthia that there were too many documents and that it was a lot of work for her.
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"You will have to go through the documents. You will also have to ask questions yourself. So, you must have the opportunity to go through the documents thoroughly. The prosecutor will help you with that," Balton said.
Judge Balton said she was aware that Cynthia could not get legal advice. Cynthia's husband, Sipho, is accused three, represented by Advocate Thokozani Madonsela.
Since the beginning of the trial, he has had no problems, while Cynthia has changed lawyers more than once because she has had financial difficulties paying for lawyers.
When Daily Sun approached Cynthia, she said she was not ready to speak to the media and couldn't answer questions as she was waiting to speak to prosecutor Lucken.
Meanwhile, the state witness, a former head of the DSW, had testified about the dumpsite where the trucks dump their waste and how it operates. He said that the trucks that come to the dump pay a fee for dumping the rubbish.
He said his work regarding the site was to receive and see invoices and payment sheets. But the matter was adjourned for Friday, 6 October.
Judge Balton postponed the matter to give accused nine, Cynthia time to go through the documents and return to court prepared.
