Former eThekwini city manager Sipho Nzuza, is facing corruption charges related to the R320 million Durban Solid Waste tender.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers
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.
This section permits police to seize an item if they believe it played a role in the commission of a crime.
Moreover, he stated that the seizure of the cellphone was urgent and there was no time to go and apply for the search and seizure warrant. Nzuza’s legal team has since challenged this, questioning why the Hawks failed to apply for the search and seizure warrant concurrently with the warrant for his arrest. They maintain that the evidence extracted from Nzuza’s phone was obtained illegally.
Captain Obed Lukhele from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) told the court that the instruction given to him by the Lieutenant Colonel to take Nzuza’s phone, was reasonable.
“He was my senior. Whatever instruction he gives, I must comply,” Lukhele explained.
Lukhele testified that after seizing Nzuza's phone, he asked Nzuzu for the PIN but upon arrival at the charge office, he realized the PIN was incorrect. He returned to the holding cells area where Nzuza was kept.
He said he passed the investigating officer, his senior, the Lieutenant Colonel, and Nzuza's attorney and he informed the Lieutenant Colonel that he was going back to Nzuza for the correct PIN. He noted that Nzuza’s attorney, who was within earshot, did not object to this.
Lukhele explained the procedure for handling the phone, saying that immediately after booking Nzuza’s phone into the SAP13 (the evidence register), he booked it out for Digital Forensic Investigations.
The trial-within-a-trial will continue on Thursday.
nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za