Where is Zandile Gumede?

12 December 2019

At today’s final eThekwini Council meeting for 2019, former Mayor Zandile Gumede, who remains an ordinary member of the Council, is again absent.

Gumede has not attended a meeting of Council since the beginning of September, when she arrived late to elect her successor, Mxolisi Kaunda.

Our research also indicates that Gumede is not a member of any Council committee, and is such is not attending any other committee meetings. She continues to earn a salary from the municipal coffers despite not doing any work as a Councillor and facing serious criminal charges.

Two of the four ANC Councillors arrested yesterday- AN Shabalala and NE Mthembu- also submitted leave under the guise of ‘personal commitments’. The other two- GT De Lange and MS Nyawose- did not submitted any leave. All four are out on bail for fraud, allegedly related to the same DSW matter as Gumede.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) forced Council Speaker WeziweThusi to call a vote on granting the leave in terms of the Rules of Order, and subsequently voted against granting the leave.

The DA will continue the fight to ensure that the 62 Councillors mentioned as having worked with Gumede, Gumede herself and her co-accused face the might of the law. The eThekwini Council and Speaker must act against these Councillors and haul them before the Ethics Committee.

It cannot be business as usual when Councillors accused of serious corruption can continue to earn municipal money but do no work.

The corrupt 62 must be named, charged and fired.

Issued by Thabani Mthethwa,EThekwini DA Chief Whip, 12 December 2019