Senior eThekwini procurement official arrested over luxury car claims

Five people, including eThekwini municipality deputy head of procurement Sandile Ngcobo, were arrested on Friday on corruption charges.

Hawks boss Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed the arrests to TimesLIVE, saying they were related to service providers allegedly buying officials luxury vehicles.

Mulaudzi said they would appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes court on Friday. 

Ngcobo is one of 15 people who were arrested in May last year, alongside former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede in connection with a R389m Durban Solid Waste tender.

Gumede and 15 of her co-accused appeared in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday last week on charges of corruption, fraud and violating the Municipal Finance Management Act. 

Senior state advocate Ashika Lucken said that during a search and seizure operation by the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA's) asset forfeiture unit in October, documents were found at Ngcobo's home.

Mulaudzi said this matter was a separate investigation and not linked to the DSW corruption case.

This is a developing story.