Corruption-accused former Durban mayor Zandile Gumede ...

Former Durban Mayor Zandile Gumede has been charged alongside 21 others for fraud, corruption and racketeering pertaining to a 2016 Durban solid waste tender.

FILE: Former eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede (in a red and yellow dress) and co-accused with some of their supporters in the Durban High Court on 29 March 2022. Picture: Nhlanhla Mabaso/Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - Despite being fingered as a key figure in corruption cases to the tune of R320 million, former Durban mayor, Zandile Gumede, maintains her innocence.

Gumede has been charged alongside 21 others for fraud, corruption and racketeering pertaining to a 2016 Durban solid waste tender.

Gumede is alleged to have used her power as mayor to influence and bypass the tender process in the hiring of certain contractors.

READ: Zandile Gumede ready for corruption trial but wants to be prosecuted separately

But she maintains she was only acting in the interest of the public.

Gumede is currently standing trial, alongside 21 others, for a 2016 Durban solid waste tender amounting to R320 million.

Gumede, who is widely known for her support for the Radical Economic Transformation faction, said that she was happy the trial was making headway.

Gumede told Eyewitness News that while the ultimate decision on her fate rested with the judge, she believes she did nothing wrong.

"I was pushing the agenda that the public wanted, that people need to pay for rates and everything. Now we need to have some things that can be done by the local communities so they can be able to pay for rates. It doesn’t make sense to government for one person to get R500 million tender and he chows everything and no one benefits from that. It’s got nothing to do with politics, like how they put it."

The trial is set down until next month and will resume on Tuesday.