Councillor in hot water after dagga bust
An ANC councillor will a lot of explaining to do, after he was allegedly arrested with 41kg of dagga in Ladysmith.
|||Durban - An ANC councillor will have to explain to his municipality bosses on Monday how he came to be arrested this week allegedly in possession of 41kg of dagga, worth about R82 000.
Muhle Zondo, 33, was arrested by police of the Ladysmith community services sector in Illing Road, Ladysmith, on Wednesday morning.
He is the Ward 3 councillor for the Okhahlamba local council, which sits in Bergville.
Area police spokesman, Captain Charmaine Struwig, said officers made the arrest after a motorist began acting suspiciously.
“There was no roadblock or anything. The officers were policing the area and when the driver of the vehicle spotted them, he acted suspiciously.
“The two officers in the police vehicle called for back-up and boxed-in the vehicle. On searching the councillor’s vehicle, the stash of dagga was found,” Struwig said.
Provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Jay Naicker, said the dagga was stacked in five big plastic bags.
He said: “During a preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the suspect is alleged to be a Bergville area councillor.”
Zondo sits in council meetings, but is not a member of the municipality’s executive council.
He appeared briefly in the Ladysmith Magistrate’s Court on Thursday where he was released on R4 000 bail.
He will return to court on September 28.
Council Speaker, Getrude Ndaba, and mayor David Sibeko could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Okhahlamba local municipal manager, Siza Sibande, said they were aware of Zondo’s arrest, but at this stage reasons given were still rumours and allegations.
“One rumour I heard was that the councillor was requested by a community member to transport some parcels for him.
“We really don’t have the facts now, but we will meet him on Monday so that he can explain what exactly happened,” Sibande said.
He said no decision would be taken on how to handle the matter because the allegations were yet to be proven in court.
“Only the court, based on available evidence presented to it, will be in a position to say he is guilty or not,” he said.
Daily News