An announcement within a week. Explaining the payments, Shaik said he had paid R350000 to Maharaj's wife, Zarina, for her services as a consultant to his company over a four-year period.

He said the R500000 figure came from journal entries but when the reconciliation was done with various accounts, this was revised downwards to R350000.

He said that had he wanted to "financially empower the Maharajs" he would have had many opportunities which he had declined.

Meanwhile, Shaik has decided to appeal against a judgment which requires he answer questions posed by the Scorpions. The decision follows a judgment of Durban High Court Judge Ron McLaren on the constitutionality of Section 28 of the National Prosecuting Authority Act, which found that Shaik was required to answer questions posed by the Scorpions in terms of the Act.

Shaik's decision could have the effect of delaying the finalisation of possible criminal charges against both himself and Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

Shaik's lawyer, Reeves Parsee, said he had decided to request leave to appeal to both the Constitutional Court and, in the alternative, to the Supreme Court.

A request for leave to appeal was also made to the Constitutional Court directly, since application must be made to this court as well as to the court that heard the case originally.

With acknowledgement to the Business Day.