Latest news with #Nzuza
IOL News
6 days ago
- IOL News
Zandile Gumede case: State witness confirms former City Manager's role in waste tender decisions
Former eThekwini City Manager Sipho Nzuza. Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers A State witness has told the Durban High Court that the former City Manager of eThekwini Municipality was well within his rights to sign letters of award for the waste collection tenders in 2017. The R320 million Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender fraud trial involves former Mayor Zandile Gumede and 21 other accused who facenumerous charges including money laundering, racketeering, fraud, corruption, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Municipal Systems Act. In 2017 the Solid Waste Unit had to urgently appoint service providers to collect waste in the City as the contracts of existing service providers were due to expire on December 31, 2017. Moreover, the State witness who in December 2017 worked at the tenders and contracts unit has admitted under cross examination that Sipho Nzuza, the former City Manager was within his rights to require or ask the former deputy head of Supply Chain Management, Sandile Ngcobo about the letters of awards on December 28 2017. Ngcobo is also an accused in this matter. This is as the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) chaired by Ngcobo approved the Solid Waste unit to approach experienced service providers to collect waste in eThekwini. The BAC gave it approval on December 19,2017 for the Solid Waste Unit to get new service providers to collect waste. It also approved their quotations. This witness told the court that she did not take the BAC decision to the Executive Acquisitions Committee (EAC). The EAC was an advisory committee established by Nzuza to assist him to make decisions. In giving various reasons for this, the witness on Thursday told the court that these decisions did not go to the EAC because she was on leave and the agenda was prepared days before the EAC. She had also told the court that she was responsible for drafting the agenda for all the committees and decision circulars. Despite the urgency of the matter, the witness said the BAC decisions about the solid waste tender reached the EAC on January 29, 2018. Nzuza's counsel, Advocate Credo Mlaba put it to the witness that Nzuza was faced with a situation where the waste was not going to be collected in the City and on December 28, 2017 he approached Ngcobo for an update on the waste collection and asked him to attend to the letters of award, as this was an emergency. 'Nzuza said it would have been impossible for him to wait for January 29, 2018 as the BAC decisions did not make it to the EAC meeting on December 21, 2017. Would you like to comment on that?' The witness said it was understood this was Nzuza's role and the witness also agreed with advocate Jay Naidoo SC, counsel for Gumede that the SCM policy and regulations authorised Nzuza to sign the letters of awards based on decisions taken by the BAC. However, she said if he solely signed without consulting EAC, he would be disregarding his own internal policy.
The Citizen
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Only South Africans receive birth certificates, says home affairs
Deputy minister urges parents to register their children within 10 days after they are born to reduce the need for late registrations. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza on Friday handed over 100 birth certificates and identity documents to successful late birth registration applicants in Mabopane, north of Tshwane. Speaking to The Citizen, Nzuza clarified the department's stance on documentation for foreign nationals. 'Birth certificates are only issued to South Africans. For foreign nationals, we issue them with a notice of birth,' he said. Documenting South Africans, not foreigners Nzuza said that no birth certificates were given to foreign-born individuals, amid rising concern about documentation fraud and misperceptions about illegal immigration. 'We have to safeguard the integrity of the population register against fraudulent registration,' Nzuza said. 'There are attempts where people try to register foreign nationals as South Africans. That's why we conduct a lengthy process, including interviews and verification.' He said the department's responsibility is to ensure that only eligible citizens are officially recorded. 'In South Africa, to be a citizen by birth, you must be born to South African parents, or at least one parent must be South African. If we can't trace a parent, we cannot assume citizenship,' he said. ALSO READ: Schreiber on Afrikaner farmers' citizenship as Ramaphosa downplays African Americans refugee offer Challenges with undocumented children Nzuza said social development often intervenes in cases where children are abandoned or orphaned, complicating the registration process. 'These children are sometimes left with people who are not their biological parents. If we can't verify that they are South African, it becomes an issue. But every South African child deserves to be documented, regardless of the circumstances of their birth,' he said. The deputy minister urged parents to register their children within 10 days after they are born to reduce the need for late registrations. 'We are developing systems where a parent can register a child using fingerprints and instant online verification,' said Nzuza. 'In hospitals with more than 5 000 births annually, we've stationed home affairs units so that no child leaves without being registered.' ALSO READ: Delay expected in Sassa grant payments for May — These are the beneficiaries affected Restoring dignity According to the department, the event formed part of an ongoing drive by the department to register South Africans who were never added to the national population register. Many recipients had lived without documentation their entire lives. One beneficiary was born in 1973 and received an identity document for the first time. 'We are officially entering them into the population register. They can now access services such as social grants, healthcare and employment,' said Nzuza. The event was also supported by the Gauteng department of social development, with MEC Faith Mazibuko present to oversee the provision of related services. The South African social security agency and department of employment and labour were also part of the outreach. NOW READ: WATCH: BMA intercepts and detains over 6 000 people trying to enter or leave SA illegally
