DURBAN - IT REMAINS to be seen if eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza will return to work as expected next month as his application for special leave ends at the end of March.
“He had applied for special leave, which was to end at the end of February,” Mluleki Mntungwa, mayor Mxolisi Kaunda’s spokesperson, said yesterday.
Initially, Nzuza was suspended by the city, which came at virtually the same time as his arrest by the Hawks in connection with a R430 million tender fraud and corruption case.
The city has said that the suspension is related to another matter, separate from the corruption court case.
Subsequent to the suspension, which, in terms of the 2010 Promulgated Disciplinary Procedures for Senior (municipal) Managers is expected to last no longer than three months, Nzuza was granted special leave of absence.
His return to work caused outrage among opposition parties, who were concerned he would be able to interfere with witnesses who were set to testify against him.
Concerns grew when it emerged that Nzuza had been signing off on tender documents. He was subsequently whisked back to court on November 15 for allegedly violating his bail conditions by taking part in meetings and signing off on documents.
An arrangement was then made between him and city officials that his special leave be extended.
When he appears in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court next month, Nzuza will share the court benches with his co-accused, former mayor Zandile Gumede, who will also be reappearing.
Magistrate Dawn Somaroo has cautioned against any possible further postponement of the case against Gumede and her co-accused, a warning he gave during the seventh court appearance of Gumede and her alleged accomplices.
He said if the State was not ready at its next appearance, “the court will hold an inquiry and one of the consequences could be that the matter may be struck off the roll”.
Attempts to obtain comment from Nzuza had failed by the time of publication as his phone was off.
The Mercury