Acting eThekwini mayor 'rushed to hospital' in suspected poisoning plot

Questions are being raised about whether Durban’s acting mayor Fawzia Peer was poisoned at a drama-filled full sitting of the council on Thursday.

DA caucus leader Nicole Graham tweeted: "The speaker just announced that there is paraffin in someone’s water bottle and told us not to drink the water. The deputy mayor just left abruptly covering her mouth. What the hell just happened?"

A short while later Graham tweeted that she thought she may have just witnessed someone try to poison Peer.

"The mood in #durban council remains strangely cavalier."

Peer is acting mayor after mayor Zandile Gumede took a 30-day leave of absence  following her arrest over charges related to a R208mn Durban Solid Waste tender.

It is understood that Peer rushed to a Durban hospital accompanied by her bodyguards.

Calls to Peer went unanswered.

However, in a statement the city denied the acting mayor had been poisoned.

"eThekwini Municipality would like to refute allegations that Acting Mayor, Cllr Fawzia Peer has been poisoned.

"At this stage we can confirm that Cllr Peer complained about the taste of the water she had consumed. For precautionary measures she went to the doctor for a check-up. The water she consumed has been sent to the laboratory for testing."

The city said they would await the laboratory results and the doctor's report before "making any conclusion on the matter".