This week will be the week of the politicians in the trial of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik.

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille and former Standing Committee on Public Accounts chairperson Gavin Woods are expected to take the stand.

They are expected to give evidence on the politics around South Africa's controversial arms deal, more specifically the attempts by the now-defunct Heath Commission to investigate claims of irregularities in the multibillion-rand deal.

Shaik has pleaded not guilty to two charges of corruption and one of fraud in the Durban High Court.

With regard to the arms deal, there is a specific allegation that Shaik made a deal with French arms company Thomson, who had agreed to pay a bribe to Deputy President Jacob Zuma in exchange for his support and protection against investigations into the deal.

This was set out in a fax which Sue Delique, a former secretary for Thomson's South African representative Alain Thetard, told the court she had sent to Thomson's headquarters in France.

Under cross-examination by Shaik's advocate Francois van Zyl, Delique said she did not fax it to Shaik.

A letter written by Zuma to Woods, in his capacity as leader of government business, in which he said there was no need for the Heath Commission investigation, is expected to come under scrutiny as well.

There is also an allegation that Zuma intervened to sort out the shareholding in African Defence Systems (ADS), in favour of Shaik's Nkobi group. ADS later got one of the lucrative subcontracts in the corvette part of the arms deal.

Judge Willem Heath and some of his personnel, who became known for their corruption-busting, are expected to give evidence later in the trial.

De Lille made headlines when she claimed to have information on corruption in the arms deal which she had given to Judge Heath.

The court heard earlier that Thetard had had a meeting with an "agitated" representative of another French company after De Lille made her claims in parliament.

Marion Marais, who was Thetard's secretary at the time, said he had asked her to obtain as much evidence as possible on what De Lille had said.

There are two weeks, or 10 court days, left until the Durban High Court goes into recess. It is expected that the state still has to call about 16 witnesses before it can complete its case against Shaik.

With acknowledgements to Estelle Ellis and The Star.