SACP 'predicted' eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede's run-in with the law

The SA Communist Party (SACP) in KZN says it had predicted that eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede would find herself in legal hot water.

During a media briefing on Thursday, the party's provincial secretary, Themba Mthembu, was asked if the SACP believed Gumede should step down following her arrest on corruption charges.

"As a matter of principle, the ANC has an integrity committee that should deal with this …We predicted this. We don't want to lie, we predicted that this would happen," said Mthembu.

Gumede appeared in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday where she faces charges of fraud and corruption relating to a R208m Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender awarded in 2016.

The media briefing was called after the party held its provincial executive meeting on Sunday May 12.

Among the things discussed at the meeting was the ANC's decline at the polls during the national election. The recent results in the national elections were the party's worst since democracy.

"The PEC strongly believes such under-performance is partly self-inflicted," said Mthembu. "We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend we are innocent. We are at the centre of most wrongdoing at the Zondo commission and we deploy most of the councillors who are nowhere to be seen," he added.

The SACP also said there was a need to establish a provincial inquiry into state capture, widespread protests and political killings in the province.

"All of the above incidents in the eThekwini and other municipalities point towards state institutions that have been captured … The PEC resolved to call for a provincial state capture commission from the incoming administration," said Mthembu.