- Technical glitches disrupted Zandile Gumede's corruption trial in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Wednesday.
- eThekwini City Integrity Investigative Unit head Mbuso Ngcobo is the first witness to give evidence.
- Gumede and her 21 co-accused face more than 2 000 charges, including corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering.
Technical glitches with the sound system in court plagued the start of the corruption trial of former eThekwini mayor and ANC heavyweight Zandile Gumede in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Wednesday.
Gumede and her 21 co-accused, including former eThekwini City manager Sipho Nzuza and ANC councillor Mondli Mthembu, face more than 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.
The defence lawyers complained that they were having difficulty hearing the testimony of state witness eThekwini City Integrity Investigation Unit (CIIU) head Mbuso Ngcobo, who took the stand on Tuesday.
The case was postponed on Tuesday for the same reason, and Ngcobo, the first witness in the trial, was not audible while testifying.
After repeated attempts to have him speak louder, Judge Sharmaine Balton postponed the matter on Tuesday and called on the prosecution to bring in a speaker and mic system so Ngcobo would be more audible.
There were still many issues by Wednesday despite the speaker system being brought into court. While the system initially functioned well, technical glitches soon crept in, including a weird echo in the courtroom and a distortion in the court recording system.
On two occasions, the witness was instructed to speak directly into the mic, and when that caused distortion, he was asked to be seated and remain in one position.
The speaker had to be moved from one end of the courtroom to another, and court officials scampered during proceedings to resolve the sound issues.
Judge Balton was scathing in her criticism of the lawyers, who were seemingly speaking at one point during proceedings, as she demanded that they quieten down immediately.
The judge warned:
During Ngcobo's testimony, there were discussions about the process undertaken to initiate the corruption investigation. He explained that he signed a memorandum of understanding with forensic audit company Integrity Forensic Solutions (IFS) and the Hawks.
He said once that process was done, it was understood that IFS would lead the investigation and hand evidence and reports over to the Hawks.
From then on, Ngcobo was not part of the actual investigation and only had occasional meetings with IFS and the Hawks.
The State is attempting to prove racketeering charges, saying that it has identified a criminal enterprise run by Gumede, Mthembu, Nzuza, Robert Abbu and Sandile Ngcobo, the five main accused.
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It is alleged that they used four companies in a 36-month period to siphon off more than R320 million in Durban Solid Waste (DSW) contracts.
The case continues.