Durban - The regional task team (Rtt) overseeing the affairs of the ANC eThekwini region has finally bowed to pressure to remove former eThekwini mayor, Zandile Gumede from party activities until she has cleared her name in court.
Independent Media learnt very late this week that 15 days after the provincial executive committee asked Gumede to step aside, she was then removed from a Whatsapp group of the task team.
Gumede, a former mayor of eThekwini and her long time loyalist, Mondli Mthembu (also removed from the Whatsapp group) who is a senior ANC councillor in eThekwini are accused of corruption emanating from a R430 million waste tender issued by municipality in 2017.
On Thursday they appeared before the Durban commercial crimes court where the matter was postponed to December 10 this year. However, the decision did not sit well with Gumede backers who claimed that the decision to remove her from the group was being applied selectively.
A Gumede loyalist alleged that the decision was unfairly implemented as some accused party members are still taking part in internal party activities.
“They have removed uMama (Zandile Gumede) from the Whatsapp group of the regional task team. This means that the decision applies to others but others are exempted as they are still part of it,” a Gumede loyalist alleged.
However, their concerns were dismissed by Mluleki Ndobe, the Pec appointed coordinator of the regional task team. Ndobe said the decision to remove Gumede from the Whatsapp where matters like preparing for an elective regional conference and day to day regional party affairs are discussed was guided by the provincial secretary, Mdumiseni Ntuli.
“We received the guidance from the provincial secretary who said now that a decision has been taken by the Pec and the Nec (national executive committee) on all those accused of corruption that they step aside, we implemented it. In short, we were just implementing the decision of the Pec and the NEC. The administrator of our social media platforms are responding to that call from the Pec and the Nec,” Ndobe said.
Another removed from the Rtt group is Sithenjwa Nyawose, a councillor from uMlazi who was key to the CR17 lobby in KZN ahead of the 2017 Nasrec conference and Nomthandazo Shabalala.
Both are ANC councillors in the eThekwini region and have pending corruption cases in courts.
Political Bureau