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Shaik: 'R1m confiscation enough'
26/02/2008 15:45 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The confiscation of "R30m to R40m" worth of assets from Shabir Shaik following his fraud and corruption conviction was out of proportion to his "friend" Jacob Zuma's intervention in one arms deal dispute, the Constitutional Court heard on Tuesday.
Shaik's lawyer Martin Brassey said Zuma's intervention at a meeting with Thomson France was only part of the "pot" of deals Shaik had with the company and its South African subsidiaries.
Brassey submitted that a figure of R1m would be more appropriate.
It was unfair to be confiscating the higher amount on top of Shaik's 15 year sentence, and constitutional.
"We say, to be blunt, if you are going to do anything, don't do more than R1m," Brassey said.
He said one intervention by Zuma was "grossly disproportionate" to the amount that was forfeited.
Zuma attended a meeting in London in 1998 with Thomson France when Shaik discovered that instead of the South African subsidiary of Thomson - with which his company Nkobi had a partnership - buying into defence company African Defence Systems, the French company bought it instead.
BEE credentials
This went against an agreement that the South African subsidiary and Shaik's company would benefit from the investment and potential arms deals.
Zuma went to the meeting to clarify Shaik's black empowerment credentials as the company had reservations, based on foreign beliefs that black empowerment was for "black indigenous" people only.
Brassey said Zuma did this as a friend of Shaik's when he heard about the problem and could not have refused.
"What kind of friend would he be," Brassey said.
Brassey said that because Zuma did not testify at Shaik's trial it was not possible to conclude that he attended the meeting for gain.
However counsel for the state Wim Trengove rejected this argument.
'Shaik bribed Zuma'
"It would be odd for Shaik to pay so dearly that which he could have had for nothing," said Trengove.
"In the end Mr Shaik bribed Mr Zuma for his protection, and intervention and political influence."
In Shaik's judgement, Judge Hilary Squires said that between October 1995 and September 2002 Shaik or one of his companies made 238 payments totalling R1 340 078m to Zuma in return for his name and influence in his business enterprises.
Zuma was MEC for economic affairs in KwaZulu-Natal and deputy president of the ANC at the time.
Trengove said that the bribes got Shaik the benefit.
"...He didn't in fact get it in an honest way."
- SAPA
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