A State witness in the in the R320 million tender fraud and corruption trial against former eThekwini Municipality officials told the Durban High Court how she had felt like she was led to implicate accused former deputy head of Supply Chain Management Sipho Ngcobo by investigators’ in her initial interview that was in a filing room. Picture: Leon Lestrade
Durban — EThekwini Municipality's former deputy head of Supply Chain Management, who is an accused in the R320 million tender fraud and corruption trial, smiled as a State witness told the court how she felt she was being pressured to implicate him when Integrity Forensic Solutions (IFS) investigators interviewed her.
As Sandile Ngcobo smiled, murmurs were heard from other accused in the Durban High Court on Friday where the trial involving former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, 17 others and four companies who were the main contractors in the Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender in question is being heard.
Also among the accused are Mondli Mthembu (an executive councillor), Sipho Nzuza (former city manager), Robert Abbu, deputy head at DSW, and Nzuza’s wife Bagcinile, whom the State alleges actively associated themselves with the common purpose of working together to manipulate the procurement process.
Gumede and her co-accused face over 2 000 charges, including conspiracy to commit corruption, corruption, fraud, money laundering, racketeering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act; amounting to over R300m in relation to the DSW tender.
The witness, who had previously led evidence that an urgent instruction to draft tender award letters to four of the accused companies came from Ngcobo through her supervisor, was being cross-examined by Ngcobo’s legal representative, advocate Jimmy Howse. She told the court she was questioned in the filing room in the compliance and monitoring section.
The letters in question were for Ilanga LaMahlase Pty (Ltd), Uzuzinekele Trading 31 CC, Omphile Thabanga Projects and El Shaddai Holdings CC.
Accused Mzwandile Dlula is the sole director of Ilanga LaMahlase Pty (Ltd), Zithulele Mkhize is the sole member of Uzuzinekele Trading 31 CC, while husband and wife Bongani and Khoboso Dlomo are the directors of Omphile Thabanga Projects. Accused Prabagaran Pariah is the sole member of El Shaddai Holdings CC.
“Something did not sit well with me that I was called in for this interview at a different office from the one I work in … I didn’t even know of the investigators’ presence in our building … I wouldn’t say that I was ambushed, but the way it happened was not right,” said the witness, who had been employed as an administrator and verifier attached to tenders and contracts at that time in 2017.
Her evidence had been that she was called by another employee to go to where the investigators were. She said that at this meeting she was given a piece of paper with the text of an email she had sent her supervisor.
The email she sent read: “Hi Mphathi, please see attached urgently requested by deputy head Sandile Ngcobo.”
The witness said during this meeting she was questioned about this email.
“I felt pressured, almost like I was being led to implicate Ngcobo, and that's why I stopped and didn’t answer any more questions,” she said when she was re-examined by State prosecutor advocate Bongiwe Mbambo.
Before this, she had told Howse that despite investigators being sent an email by her union representative after the meeting in the filing room telling them that they needed to provide her with a case number or investigation number as well as an appointment letter to investigate from the City, these were not provided.
Evidence before the court so far around these letters, drafted on December 28, 2017, is that they contained two dated signatures, one of which the witness identified as Nzuza’s. However, it has also been brought to the court’s attention that the dates next to these two signatures were six days before the day the witness drafted them.
The trial continues on Monday.
Sunday Tribune