KZN ANC takes more heat over Former eThekwini Municipality mayor Zandile Gumede’s appointment

Dennis TAugust 20, 2020

14 3 minutes read

Former eThekwini Municipality mayor Zandile Gumede has continued to enjoy the support of her political family, the ANC, despite scathing criticism level at the party for deploying her to the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature while she faces an alleged tender corruption case in court.

This follows Gumede’s swearing-in on Wednesday as a member of the provincial legislature in KZN although she is currently out on R50 000 bail from the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court where she is implicated in the multimillion-rand Durban Solid Waste tender scandal.

Following a protracted disciplinary process, Gumede was axed by the ANC as the mayor of one of the ruling party’s biggest and most significant metropolitan municipalities in August 2019 due to her being implicated in the tender scandal.

Her demotion from the mayoral position saw Gumede, a heavyweight of the ANC KZN political scene in which she enjoys a substantial following, having to serve in the city’s council as an ordinary proportional representation councillor.

In that role, Gumede did not stray too far from controversy as opposition parties in the council lamented her absence from council meetings on numerous occasions.

Speaking to Independent Media on Wednesday, following yet another day of unabating criticism of Gumede’s appointment, the party’s provincial spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said they understood the context of the criticism due to Gumede’s court case but added that people should understand that she has only been accused and not convicted.

“This case has been in court for more than a year and the NPA has not been able to even submit charges and her case keeps on being postponed because the NPA has not been able to present any charges in her case,” Ntombela said.

Civil society organisation Coalition of the Poor, which is made up of the Active Citizens Movement, Abahlali Basemjondolo and the Right 2 Know Campaign amongst other organisations, lamented the ANC’s deployment of Gumede to the legislature despite the charges she was currently facing.

“The decision by the ANC to promote Gumede despite serious charges against her was s a slap in the face for the long-suffering citizens of eThekwini, who have experienced a terrible lack of service delivery, looting of the resources of the city, and harassment, violence and evictions under her time as mayor.

“A tenure as a leader should never be remembered by the fear, shame and disgust felt by citizens. The low standard that the ruling party employs to deploy cadres is symbolised by the argument which they use, which is ‘innocent until proven guilty’,” the organisation said.

The Coalition of the Poor added that this argument may meet the legal criteria but it falls short of the moral law which all leaders should put first and foremost.

The IFP, the official opposition in KZN, said that Gumede’s deployment as an MPL was a disgrace and a shameful act by the ANC in KZN.

“This is a clear demonstration that the ANC is not honest in fighting corruption and state looting. This appointment is a sharp contradiction of what they say on fighting corruption – but a true reflection of the ruling party.

“Once again, the ANC has demonstrated that it will never transform from harbouring its corrupt subjects. It is the tendency of the ruling party that people who are facing disciplinary actions or court cases on serious cases will be moved from one department to the other if not from one level of government to the other,” said IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa.

He added that they viewed Gumede’s appointment as a mockery to the KZN Legislature and the people of the province. The Legislature of KZN is not a dumping zone,” Hlabisa said.

However, in deploying her to the provincial legislature as a replacement for Ricardo Mthembu who passed on last month, the ANC in KZN said that it was fully aware “of detractors who will seek to use Cde Gumede’s ongoing court case to criticize the appointment”.

“However, we subscribe to the notion of innocent until proven guilty as enshrined in our justice system and, as such, there is nothing untoward about the appointment of Cde Gumede.

“As a firm believer in women empowerment, the ANC KZN is confident that Cde Gumede, with her experience, is a worthwhile addition to the Legislature,” Ntombela said.