Sandile Ngcobo was suspended earlier this year after fresh charges emerged in the Ethekwini waste collection scandal.
FILE: Former eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede and and some of her co-accused appear in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on 10 September 2020 on charges relating to corruption. Picture: Nkosikhona Duma/EWN
DURBAN – A senior eThekwini municipal official arrested along with former mayor Zandile Gumede returned to work this week.
Sandile Ngcobo was suspended earlier this year after fresh charges emerged in the Ethekwini waste collection scandal.
Eyewitness News understands that he returned to work on Monday following approval by the municipality’s acting city manager Sipho Cele last week.
According to a leaked document, Ngcobo – who served as the municipality’s deputy head of supply chain management – would now be moved to the disaster management unit.
He was among senior officials who were alleged to have played a key role in tender fraud estimated at over R400 million.
It was alleged that Ngcobo’s family was rewarded with a Jaguar worth R1 million by three of Gumede’s co-accused.
The Democratic Alliance’s Nicole Graham suspected corrupt politicians and officials had colluded.
“Last week, two different tip-offs alleged that without Ngcobo’s influence on the city’s supply chain management processes, certain pockets were running dry,” Graham said.
The eThekwini Municipality had not yet responded to queries by EWN.
