Former eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza, is facing corruption charges related to the R320 million Durban Solid Waste tender.
A police officer involved in the investigation of the R320 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender fraud case, on Wednesday testified that his superior's instruction to seize the cellphone of former eThekwini City Manager Sipho Nzuza, who was in the holding cells area at Durban Central police station, was reasonable.
In 2020, police obtained a warrant of arrest against Nzuza in connection with the fraud case. The senior city officials was instructed to hand himself in to police at the Durban Central police station on March 10, 2020. Nzuza is charged alongside former eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede and 20 others.
They are charged with money laundering, racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act relating to the R320 million tender.
Previous testimony from a retired Lieutenant Colonel—who cannot be named—revealed that a search and seizure warrant had not been obtained for Nzuza’s phone. The Lieutenant Colonel informed the Durban High Court that the police instead relied on Section 22 of the Criminal Procedure Act to confiscate the phone.
