'eThekwini Mayor's leave of absence should be longer'
A political analyst believes Zandile Gumede's leave of absence should be extended.
"I can't understand why the leave was packed into one month. It should have been a longer period of time," says analyst Imraan Buccus.
The eThekwini Mayor's 30 days of special leave ends on Wednesday and the provincial African National Congress (ANC) leadership is set to announce whether she'll return to work.
Gumede, together with a councillor and a businessman, are all out on bail on fraud and corruption charges relating to a controversial multi-million-rand DSW tender.
The ANC asked her to temporarily step aside after meeting with eThekwini officials on the accusations.
Buccus says the party leadership may find it difficult to act against Gumede.
"It really makes it difficult for the leadership to act against someone so powerful and has so many councillors around her and with all the dynamics of patronage stacked in her favour.”
Meanwhile Fawzia Peer, Durban's acting mayor, says police looking into whether she may have been poisoned at a council meeting have interviewed her and a few colleagues as part of their investigation.