Schabir Shaik is not a very well liked man here at home, and his dirty dealings with Jacob Zuma have been well covered over the years.

I suppose we did lock Schabir up, although he wangled his way out on parole with his “terminal illness” excuse, but we are still stuck with a disgrace of a president and one can’t help but feel cheated out of any justice.

His 15-year sentence for bribery and corruption with JZ will soon come to an end, and perhaps now is his time to start paying the citizens of this country back.

Following the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss a bid by Zuma to appeal against a previous ruling that he face arms deal-related corruption charges‚ Schabir may actually be the ace up our sleeve.

Times LIVE below:

What could former “financial advisor” Schabir Shaik reveal about his relationship with Jacob Zuma if he turned state witness in a corruption trial against the President?

That‚ for starters‚ he ran almost every aspect of Zuma ’s financial affairs for almost a decade…

Shaik is ready to testify as a state witness. “Of course I cannot refuse to testify if I am called to do so‚” he told the Sunday Tribune.

“I will be guided by my conscience and welcome the opportunity to put certain aspects of my relationship and dealings with the president into perspective‚ which I did not have the opportunity to do previously‚” he said.

His testimony‚ he added‚ would be based on facts‚ not vengeance.

One imagines Zuma’s team of morally bankrupt lawyers would have a field day tearing his credibility apart if he turned witness, but at this stage anything is worth a shot.

The list of people with dirt on JZ would be a long and lengthy one, but Shaik will already have served his time and won’t have to hold back to cover his own behind.

A quick reminder of just how tight the two were, with Zuma calling Shaik his “brother” back in the day:

…he funnelled a total of R4 ‚072‚499 to Zuma in 783 separate payments between October 25‚ 1995 and July 1‚ 2005. Shaik ’s companies gave R22‚000 to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma‚ paid Zuma’s rent and gave his children pocket money.

“The payments to Zuma and his family ranged from a mere R10 to cover the cost of a ‘wash and vacuum’ of his car‚ to a R300‚000 cash deposit directly into his personal bank account just three months before President Thabo Mbeki fired him as his deputy‚” reported the Sunday Times.

“Shaik paid Zuma ’s family travel and accommodation costs‚ including aircraft charter (R14‚200)‚ a tab from the exclusive Twelve Apostles Hotel in Cape Town‚ Avis car rental costs and tickets to fly on South African Airways…

He also paid R44‚100 for “Zuma family travel costs” for a trip to Cuba (tickets and allowance) on December 13‚ 2002.

Shaik ’s Nkobi Group paid for school books and school fees for Zuma ’s children to attend Holy Family College‚ Sacred Heart College‚ Empangeni High School‚ the University of Zululand‚ Westerford High‚ Pretoria Boys‚ Herschel School‚ St Catherines‚ Cape Technikon and the International School of Cape Town. The payments were listed under the heading “Zuma children education”.

Zuma wore designer clothes thanks to his benefactor‚ who dished out tens of thousands of rands to the exclusive Casanova boutique in Durban‚ and also paid for his cars to be filled with petrol.

The forensic audit showed that Shaik paid R21‚000 to the ANC to settle Zuma’s outstanding party levies and settled a traffic fine for him – worth R150.

I think you’ll find that’s a Blesser, not a brother.

We shouldn’t go getting our hopes up, because JZ seems to be able to wriggle his way out of anything and the Shaun Abrahams-led NPA is complicit in State Capture, but Schabir testifying might give our president the odd sleepless night.

Go on, Schabir, sing for us.

[source:timeslive]