- Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede can return to the legislature and party programmes.
- The ANC's PEC in KZN gave her the green light.
- The PEC's decision comes after the provincial integrity commission cleared her.
Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede has been given the green light by the ANC KwaZulu-Natal's provincial executive committee (PEC) to return to the legislature and party programmes, spokesperson Nhlankanipo Ntombela told News24 on Tuesday.
This after she was cleared by the integrity commission.
"Yes, this is true. The decision was taken by the PEC following discussions on Monday," he confirmed.
Gumede was asked to take a leave of absence in August amid the Durban Solid Waste Tender fraud case - which implicated her and her co-accused in R430 million worth of corruption, News24 reported.
At the time of Gumede taking a leave of absence, she had just been sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature (MPL) in KZN and had a position on the regional task team of the political party.
The corruption case - which is still pending - was heard in court on 10 December where it was postponed yet again to finalise a key forensic audit report.
Gumede is currently out on R50 000 bail.
When probed on the motivation behind the PEC decision, Ntombela said the integrity commission report - among other things - found Gumede had spoken truthfully. In addition, he added, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was yet to finalise the corruption case against her.
"It has been a year and the NPA has not finalised the case. We cannot predict what will be the work of the NPA and how they will handle the case, that is a matter beyond our control," Ntombela said.
More to follow.