The chief whistle blower in former Ethekwini mayor Zanele Gumede’s R320m corruption case has survived three assassination attempts.
A Sunday publication has claimed that Mbuso Ngcobo survived three assassination attempts in the last five years.
“They (witnesses) are highly vulnerable. Even more so in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. We know that some areas are not policed well and there is no police station for kilometres. Witnesses who live here are not safe,” said one of the prosecutors in the case.
Ngcobo is one of the witnesses who has ironically survived three hits in the last five years.
He reportedly blew the lid on the widespread corruption which led to Gumede stepping down as the mayor.
With the trial, which centres on a R320m waste removal contract, set to resume before Durban high court judge Sharmaine Balton on Wednesday, defence teams and the prosecutors spent more than an hour in chambers with the judge, discussing the way forward.
Gumede was the mayor of Ethekwini when the corruption allegations surfaced and her case is still before the courts.
She has already pleaded not guilty but the case is still ongoing.
The head of the City Integrity and Investigations Unit (CIIU), Ngcobo, who was the first state witness to give evidence, during the March session of the trial, has yet to be called to complete his cross-examination. He has subsequently resigned from his job, citing death threats.
It also surfaced that Ngcobo had survived at least three assassination attempts in the last five years.
This comes after one witness failed to show up in court citing that she was shaken after a bullet was fired outside her house on the day she was due to give evidence.
Source: https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2023-07-30-gumede-whistle-blower-survived-three-attempts-to-kill-him/
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