A Durban policeman has laid charges of intimidation and crimen injuria against fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik, following an alleged racist *1 incident outside the Durban High Court on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo confirmed the charges but refused to mention who it had been laid against, saying the matter still had to go to court.

This followed a verbal standoff between Shaik and a sergeant based at the Durban High Court.

According to Shaik's spokesman Dominic Ntsele, Shaik was upset before he reached the court because although he was travelling with his advocate Francois van Zyl, SC, and wanted to speak with him, Van Zyl instead asked for the car radio to be switched off and refused to speak.*2

Ntsele said Van Zyl was preparing to cross-examine State witness Johan van der Walt on his 259-page forensic audit report which he referred to as "the state's bible".

He said at the court a gentleman who was "very loud and rude" announced that Shaik's car was parked in the wrong place.

"Van Zyl just got out and left but Shaik was visibly angry and reacted like people do when they're upset" said Ntsele. That is apparently when Sergeant Scheepers stepped in and a racial altercation occurred.

When asked about the incident Shaik's brother, Mo, said: "It's just another charge, so what", while his attorney Reeves Parsee said: "No comment, what charges are you talking about?"

Inside the court Shaik listened intently as Van Zyl cross-examined Van der Walt on his forensic report, often with his elbow resting on the table in front of him and his fingers on his Muslim prayer beads.

Shaik's charges relate to an alleged R500 000 per annum bribe to Deputy President Jacob Zuma in exchange for protection during investigations into arms deal irregularities.

Van der Walt on Tuesday told the court about his qualifications and how he compiled the report which was commissioned by the Scorpions. He said he was assisted by a team of accountants as well as data capturers who were predominantly trainee investigators.

Van Zyl quizzed him on his impartiality in compiling the report because he had access to witness statements and a draft charge sheet. However, Van der Walt maintained his work was "completely independent" and said he had been given an open book to familiarise himself with facts and come to his own conclusions.

Most of Tuesday's cross-examination centred on the funding of Zumas' traditional village project, Nkandla.

At one stage Van Zyl accused Van der Walt of making the facts fit the charges and "painting by numbers" provided by the National Prosecuting Authority. In the audit report Van der Walt speaks about a R1-million 'service provider agreement' between Shaik's Nkobi group and Thomson-CSF(Mauritius) which was allegedly bribe money for Zuma.

He said Shaik had written out four post-dated cheques at a time when he and Zuma were cash-strapped and it showed that they were expecting money to come in.

He said when only one payment was made, the cheques had to be cancelled. Van Zyl argued that the dates on the cheques were very specific and did not fit with those of Van der Walt. However, Van der Walt maintained that cheques could have been cashed at any time and that both parties were expecting money.

The State's next witness, John Dover from Symbol Technologies in the United Kingdom, will be called to the stand on Wednesday morning.

Prosecutor Billy Downer said Dover would speak about the creation of Prodiba of which Shaik's Nkobi Holdings forms a part. Prodiba is responsible for producing South Africa's credit card type licences.

Dover, who flew into South Africa on Tuesday, was expected to take the stand for only about two hours because "his evidence is very limited".

Downer said Dover's testimony would relate to count two against Shaik, which is fraud. The cross-examination of Van der Walt is expected to continue after Dover's testimony.

With aknowledgement to Wendy Jasson da Costa and Sapa.

*1 The clarion call of those not so sure of themselves, viz. T.M. Mbeki.

*2 Maybe all's not so rosy in the State of Denmark.