shaik finding turns legal heat on zuma
8 October 2007  

The court’s decision will probably help the state in its efforts to charge former deputy president Jacob Zuma, but prosecutor Billy Downer said the outcome of other cases was being awaited before a final decision was made about Zuma.

Central to the conviction was the fact that Shaik who was Zuma’s financial adviser and his companies had, from October 1995 to September 2002, corruptly made payments to Zuma in order to encourage him to use his name and political influence for the benefit of Shaik and his business enterprises.

Shaik also said his right to a fair trial was infringed when Downer allegedly overstepped the line between prosecutor and investigator. The court said Shaik and his companies could have subpoenaed Zuma to testify in their trial, which they would not have been able to do if he were a co-accused.

“There is thus no indication that the applicants suffered prejudice whatsoever as a result of the failure to charge Mr Zuma, Thint or Mr Thetard, or even that they would have gained any advantage from their presence as co-accused,” the court said in its judgment.

“It is not entirely insignificant that the absence of Mr Zuma and others as co-accused was not raised by (Shaik and his companies) in the high court and the Supreme Court of Appeal as a threat to the fairness of the trial.  The court also dismissed Shaik’s leave to appeal against his sentence and said his crimes commenced after the dawn of democracy and continued after legislation had been enacted that advanced black economic empowerment.

The judges said the oppressive past could not excuse crime. While poverty, a lack of education, or an unhappy childhood could be mitigating circumstances, nevertheless “millions of people who suffered severely under apartheid have chosen to lead honest lives and to avoid crime, often against many odds,” the court said.

Ernest Mabuza, www.businessday.co.za