Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede and her co-accused returned to the dock in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban on Tuesday to face an array of corruption charges.
Gumede and her 21 co-accused face more than 2 000 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering relating to a R320-million Durban solid waste project.
But the court appearance was marred by a heated argument between court security and members of the media, who were barred from proceedings on Tuesday.
For a second time since the start of the controversial corruption trial the media was prevented from entering the court.
Security officers at the High Court initially told journalists that an instruction had “came from above” regarding media access to the proceedings, as they tried to gain entry to the court.
After a heated protestation from the media, who argued that the matter was in the public interest, journalists were allowed in.
Ardent Gumede supporters gathered outside the court building in support of the former mayor.
Among them was Sanco youth league leader Thulani Gamede, who said many supporters were expected to flock to the court.
“With the outside mask rule declared by the president we are expecting more support.”
Gamede bemoaned the fact that the matter had been drawn out, saying they wanted the case thrown out of court.
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