Zandile Ruth Thelma Gumede (born 12 May 1961) is a South African who has been serving as a Member of the

KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members ...

since 2020. She served as the Executive Mayor of the

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality created in 2000, that includes the city of Durban, South Africa and surrounding towns. eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The majo ...

from 2016 until 2019. Gumede is a member of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. And the current Chair Person of the African National Congress (ANC) at EThekwini Region.

Early life

A mother of four and a grandmother of seven, Gumede, who resides in Phoenix, was born on 12 May 1961 in Amaoti at Inanda, north of Durban. She is one of thirteen children born to Mr and Mrs Majola. Gumede attended Amaoti Primary, Okhozini Primary in Hammarsdale and JL Dube and Zwelibanzi Secondary Schools. Her father was a police officer.

Politics

Her career included being a former ward councillor, executive committee member and chairperson of the Community and Emergency Services Committee. Gumede was elected as a proportional representative (PR) councillor for two terms before she became Amaoti councillor. In the eThekwini Municipality, she was also elected as treasurer from 2007 to 2015. After 1994, Gumede worked in different community development organisations in Inanda, including the Inanda Civic Association, Inanda Development Forum, CPF and also a health organisation. Her purchases of armoured vehicles has raised concern by some critics. After nominating

Mxolisi Kaunda Thomas Mxolisi Kaunda (born 13 September 1972) is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal serving as the Mayor of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality since 2019. He was the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison ...

in August 2019 as Durban's new mayor, the ruling

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...

begged Gumede to resign her mayoralty. On 26 August 2019 it was reported that the ANC had received Gumede's resignation, but two days later Gumede withdrew her resignation. Her lawyers advised her to withdraw her resignation in the light of the criminal charges she is facing. On 19 August 2020, Gumede was sworn in as a Member of the

, replacing

Ricardo Mthembu Njabulo Ricardo Mthembu (1970 – 8 July 2020) was a South African politician. Career He was a member of the African National Congress and a representative of the party in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from 2019 to 2020. Mthembu served on the l ...

, who died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in July. Opposition parties criticised her appointment, while

Duduzane Zuma Duduzane Zuma (born 20 May 1982) is the son of the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and the twin brother of Duduzile Zuma. Biography Zuma came to prominence between 2007 and 2009 when his father became the president of the Africa ...

, son of former president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, congratulated her.

Alleged involvement in crime

In December 2018, the

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

, a South African criminal investigation unit, included Gumede in forensic investigations related to

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

during her tenure, and personal involvement in alleged illegal tender awards, fake employment creation and various other matters. On 14 May 2019, Gumede appeared in the Special Commercial Crimes court in Durban for multiple crimes relating to fraud, and was released on R50,000 bail, pending further court appearances. The

Youth League called for Gumede to resign as mayor because the bail conditions imposed by the court would not allow her to execute her mayoral functions, while the ANC Women's League showed support for her to remain in office. After the arrest of Gumede, the Hawks investigation officer in charge of this case, was ambushed by three gunmen and was lucky to be alive after being injured. Her term as mayor came to an end when

was elected as Durban's mayor on 5 September 2019. On 10 October 2019, the

and members of the South African

National Prosecuting Authority The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) is the agency of the South African government responsible for state prosecutions. Under Section 179 of the Constitution and the National Prosecuting Authority Act of 1998, which established the NPA in 199 ...

's (NPA) Asset Forfeiture Unit raided Gumede's Illchester Avenue home in

Durban North Durban North is an area to the north of Durban in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Durban North lies between the N2 freeway and the eastern seashore, with the Umgeni River forming its southern boundary. It ha ...

. However, Gumede was not found there and it was discovered that she had only rented the property and vacated it in July, subsequently changing addresses - a direct violation of her bail conditions. The Hawks and the NPA then moved to Gumede's home in Inanda where they served her a court order to carry out the raids in relation to a R280 million tender scam within the Durban Solid Waste department. The raids were intended to seize R51 million in assets, including a number of luxury vehicles, including Porsches, Lamborghinis and Jaguar. Various homes, belonging to fifteen other co-accused individuals were also targeted during the raids. Footage of the raids went viral online. On 30 November 2021, Gumede, along with 21 other individuals, is scheduled to appear at the Durban High Court for a pre-trial conference. The trial will cover charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering in relation to business tenders in the eThekwini Municipality. As of 29 March 2022, the case against Gumede and her co-accused continued, as they face more than 2000 charges.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumede, Zandile 1961 births Living people African National Congress politicians Mayors of Durban

Early life

Politics

Alleged involvement in crime

See also

References

External links