Durban Magistrate Court Building Cases Halted After Bomb Scare

• A bomb threat forced those attending cases and working at the Durban Magistrates Court to be evacuated
• One of the cases that was to be heard was Durban's former mayor, Zandile Gumede's trial for 21 charges of corruption
• Briefly News spoke to KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda about the case's update
• Residents living in the area remarked that bomb threats are common in that building, and many were not surprised

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered accidents, fires, outbreaks, nature and natural disaster-related incidents at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for seven years.

DURBAN, KWAZULU-NATAL — The Durban Magistrates Court had to be evacuated on 23 July after a bomb scare.

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Bomb scare causes Durban court to be evacuated

According to IOL, an unknown person called the courthouse and informed them that there was a bomb. He added that the bomb was set to go off at 10:30 am. The building was evacuated, and the police said the K9 units were searching the area for the bomb.

One of the postponed cases was eThekwini's former mayor, Zandile Gumede. Gumede is on trial on 21 charges of improperly awarding a R300 million tender to Durban Solid Waste. The charges included conspiracy to commit corruption, fraud, racketeering, money laundering, and contravention of the Municipal Systems Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act.

SAPS speaks to Briefly News

Briefly News spoke to SAPS' spokesperson Robert Netshiunda. He said the bombs were not found, and no suspects have been arrested.

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South Africans not surprised

Netizens commenting on @ZANewsFlash's tweet were not stunned that there was a bomb scare at the courthouse.

Lungelo Shambangu said:

"It's called time-delay by politicians without any plan of action."

Nokwazi asked:

"What's with bomb scares in Durban? Earlier this month, homemade explosive delivers were found at Greenwood Park, and now it's this."

WothiMangethe said:

"That court is always threatened by bombs. But until today, they can't track those leads from within."

AfricaMthiyane said:

"New strategy. It's done all over the country these days."

BetweenYou&I said:

"This has Zandile, MK Party, and Mkhize written all over it. Anyway, the show will go on, and many of them will be arrested."

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In a similar article, Briefly News reported that two bombs were found in the yard of a mosque in Durban.

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Security officials were patrolling the area when they noticed two men behaving strangely. Upon investigation, the men fled and left behind two homemade explosive devices.

Source: Briefly News