- Schabir Shaik
Schabir Shaik is a
South Africa n businessman from the Berea,Durban , who rose to prominence due to his close association with former South African Deputy PresidentJacob Zuma . On2 June 2005 , he was found guilty of corruption andfraud , which also led to the dismissal of Zuma two weeks later from his position as Deputy President.Early life
A South African of Indian origin, Shaik studied
electrical engineering at the M.L. Sultan Technikon, but was caught cheating in a High Voltage Engineering T5 exam on28 May 1990 and was barred for 12 months. He claimed to have obtained amaster's degree , but no record of this was found at the Technikon; he later admitted he did not earn the qualification.He had a long-standing friendship with
Jacob Zuma , who needed assistance with his finances after returning from politicalexile inMozambique in 1990. Zuma had been elected Chairperson of theAfrican National Congress , and Shaik assisted him financially, mostly in the form of interest-freeloan s with no date of repayment.On
27 February 1995 , Shabir Shaik established a company known as Nkobi Holdings, using the family name of the late ANC TreasurerThomas Nkobi , without consent and approval of the Nkobi family.Nkobi Holding was initially wholly owned by Shaik. The shareholding went through various permutations subsequently, however Shaik was at all relevant times a director of, and exercised effective control over, all the corporate entities within the Nkobi group.
In 1994 he failed in an effort that would have seen
Malaysia n partners paying off the ANC's huge R 40 millionoverdraft , which was taken out in preparation for the 1994 general election. His brother,Chippy Shaik , was in charge of arms acquisition at the Department of Defence, which allowed Shaik to bid on a lucrative contract to supplyValour class patrol corvettes to theSouth African Navy .On
21 May 1996 , Nkobi Holdings and the Frenchdefence contractor Thomson-CSF went into a joint venture as Thomson Holdings, a South African company. It tendered for various contracts, among which the upgrading ofDurban International Airport , a nationalidentity card , road projects for the N3 and N4highway s, the thirdcellular telephone network, andsmart card technology. A company called Kobitech which is part of the Nkobi Holdings group, was initially a one-third shareholder in a consortium (under the name Prodiba) to produce the South Africandriving licence card. The first card was produced on2 March 1998 , a contract that was initially awarded for 5 years, later extended and then renewed for another 5 year period ending on28 March 2009 . During the second half of 2007 Kobitech sold their share in Prodiba to one of the remaining shareholders, Face Technologies.Fraud and corruption
Shaik was put on trial for
fraud and corruption at the Durban High Court from11 October 2004 . During the course of the trial, Shaik admitted that he falsified his qualifications and business achievements.The trial ended on
4 May 2005 , with JudgeHilary Squires delivering his verdict on2 June . Shaik was found guilty on two counts of corruption and one count offraud , with judge Squires stating in his 165-page verdict that there was "overwhelming" evidence of a corrupt relationship between Shaik and Zuma. The fraud charge related to testimony by Ahmed Paruk, Shaik's auditor, that Shaik held a meeting with him and Shaik's financial manager, where it was agreed that falsejournal entries be made in order to alter Nkobi Holdings'financial statements . The second corruption charge relates to alleged attempts to solicit abribe to Zuma from Thomson CSF.On
8 June he was sentenced to 15 years'imprisonment on each of the two counts of corruption, as well as 3 years on the count of fraud. The sentences will run concurrently, giving him an effective 15 year prison term. He has been given leave toappeal against this sentence on26 July , and hisbail has been extended until then. His appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal failed on 6 November [IOL: [http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=iol1162801091501O435 "Shaik, Zuma deals «against the Constitution»"] , November 6th, 2006]As a consequence of the ruling, Zuma was dismissed from his post as deputy president by President
Thabo Mbeki on14 June .On
2 October 2007 his appeal to the Constitutional Court for his conviction and sentence for corruption and fraud was turned down with the court ruling that "An appeal against conviction and sentence does not bear any reasonable prospect of success". [ [http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=83494&sn=Marketingweb+detail SAPA "Schabir Shaik's final appeal dismissed", "Politicsweb.co.za", 3 October 2007.] ]However, the court ruled that there might be a constitutional issue related to the seizure of assets belonging to him and his company and granted leave to appeal on that point. The court dismissed this appeal in April 2008. [For more details about the court judgment, see Schabir Shaik trial] Prosecutor in the case,
Anton Steynberg , said afterwards that Shaik's only option now is to petition the PresidentThabo Mbeki .References in Popular Culture
In November 2006 the South African
comic strip Madam & Eve ran a series of strips lampooning Shaik's arrival in prison.External links
* [http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2194311,00.html News24 - Shaik loses appeal 02/10/2007 11:24 - (SA)]
* [http://www.armsdeal-vpo.co.za/special_items/schabir_shaik_trial/story_short.html The Schabir Shaik trial story in short] from the [http://www.armsdeal-vpo.co.za Arms Deal Virtual Press Office]
* [http://www.sabcnews.com/features/schabir_shaik_trial/index.html Schabir Shaik on Trial] , a special feature from [http://www.sabcnews.com SABCnews.com]
* Other news coverage of the trial: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4483319.stm BBC News] , [http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Shaik_trial/0,,2-7-1708_1715290,00.html News24] , [http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=2976 Independent Online] , [http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleId=242191&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/ Mail & Guardian]
* [http://www.iol.co.za/html/static/shaik.php Full text of the judgement]
* [http://www.armsdeal-vpo.co.za/articles00/nkobi_family.html The Nkobi Clan Distances itself from Shaik's Nkobi Holdings] from the [http://www.armsdeal-vpo.co.za Arms Deal Virtual Press Office]References
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