Last year the British Broadcasting Corporation ran a story on the Hinduja brothers, described as one of the world's most influential families.

According to the BBC, the brothers boast a network of rich and influential friends ranging from senior British politicians to former US president Bill Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II and Michael Jackson.

It is too early to tell if in the Shaik brothers, South Africa might already have its own version of the Hinduja brothers in terms of their wealth and influence.

In the wake of Schabir Shaik's alleged connection to the arms deal, and his court appearance in Durban on Monday, many might be tempted to look across the seas to draw similarities.

There are four Hinduja brothers - Srichand and Gopichand are based in London; Prakash is in Geneva; and Ashok is in Bombay.

As for the Shaiks, there is Schabir, Yunus, Mo and Shamin, otherwise known as Chippy.

Chippy is a former chief of acquisitions at the Department of Defence; Yunus is a lawyer; Mo was ambassador to Algeria. He was also part of the ANC's pre-1994 Operation Vula, a move to stockpile arms before the transition to democracy, together with Mac Maharaj, the former transport minister who has also been dragged into the corruption saga.

Their other siblings, Faizel and Rehana, have no political involvements. So we are talking about four Shaik brothers.

When fraternity is mixed with politics, blood become less relevant to the sharing of an ideology and a dream.

Schabir's relationship with Deputy President Jacob Zuma has been described by no less than "JZ" himself in fraternal terms that reflect a common political ideology.

Zuma refers to Shaik as "my brother", and they go back a long way - to the days of the liberation struggle, the underground.

The state alleges that Zuma and Schabir, his financial adviser and part-time ANC funder, share another common dream - to start an investment bank.

While the BBC says it is difficult to estimate the Hinduja brothers' wealth, Schabir Shaik's charge sheet says he deals in millions, often hundreds of them, and that some of these have found their way in to Zuma's pockets, funding his post-liberation lifestyle.

From the charge sheet, Schabir is believed to have paid and arranged for at least R1,2-million to be paid to Zuma.

The two UK-based Hinduja brothers are also suspected of having spent money to secure political influence, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

The two, Srichand and Gopichand, are well known - not just for their support of the Conservative and Labour parties, but also for the numerous donations made through the Hinduja Foundation.

Although they were born into wealth, the four Hinduja brothers have, over the last few years, rapidly expanded their assets. The Shaiks, who were born into relative affluence, have worked hard through legitimate means for their success.

The Hinduja brothers were recently involved in a British political scandal.

In 2001, Peter Mandelson, a government minister and a close ally of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was forced to resign over a passport scandal linked to one of the brothers - Srichand Hinduja.

Mandelson had pulled strings to help Hinduja secure British citizenship.

The Hindujas allegedly made a donation of £1-million to the Millennium Dome project in London, of which Mandelson was at one point in charge.

Interestingly, three of the Hinduja brothers are said to be at the centre of India's biggest arms deal scandal - involving the purchase of arms from the Swedish firm Bofors.

They were accused of receiving thousands of dollars from the company in return for persuading the government of the late Rajiv Gandhi to buy 400 field guns.

This led to the fall of Gandhi's government in 1989 and a criminal probe that is still incomplete.

The criminal probe against Shaik is still in progress, and only time will tell if it will lead to the political downfall of one of the country's most powerful figures, Jacob Zuma.

With acknowledgements to Thami Ngidi and The Star.