This is the court case in which the adviser is being tried but the crown prince is being measured.

The careers of both could be sunk by the verdict. But it is also a normal commercial case in which both sides have refused to yield an inch (or a cent). A normal, but very tough, commercial case.

For nine weeks last year the country's attention was focused on the Durban High Court, where flamboyant businessman Schabir Shaik, financial adviser to deputy president Jacob Zuma, was being tried on charges of corruption and fraud.

At the end of the year's court proceedings all those involved - the accused, advocates, lawyers and journalists - were agreed that "half-time" could not have come sooner. Nine weeks is a long time for a commercial case, it was said. The State has not yet concluded its case, but only four or five witnesses are expected to be called this year before Shaik's legal team introduces its witnesses.

Informed sources speculate that Shaik himself will have to testify or call deputy president Jacob Zuma as a witness to present a defence that can give the state a hard time.

Durban is a hot place and in the last week of the court proceedings last year Shaik in particular looked as if he was starting to feel the pressure of the trial and the weather. In front of him in the courtroom were two little bottles of tablets, some of the contents of which he took with water every so often. To pass the time he took photos of everyone in the courtroom with his new cell phone. "Because," he said, "this court case will be followed by the Nuremberg trial." This year it will be exactly 60 years since the beginning of the sensational trial in Germany where Nazi war criminals were tried and punished for their misdeeds.

Is Shaik implying that he is the victim of an atrocity committed against him by the state and the media? The state's evidence has portrayed Shaik as an impatient, aggressive money-seeker who used his "political connectivity" with Zuma in particular to get contracts and gain business prestige.

The state originally had 105 people on its list of witnesses, but ended up (provisionally) with just more than 30. Among them were key witnesses like KPMG's Johan van der Walt, a forensic auditor who investigated Shaik's financial affairs; Sue Delique, former secretary at Thomson-CSF (Thint) who typed the notorious fax; and Prof John Lennon from Scotland, who testified how Zuma had used his influence to further Shaik's interests. Then there was also Celia Bester, an ex-auditor of Shaik's Nkobi Group, who testified that Shaik turned his back on the poor and enriched only himself and "certain ministers".

The trial also had its collection of "celebrity" witnesses: after testifying, ID leader Patricia de Lille declared on the steps of the court building that it was a "victory for the De Lille dossier" and that many more prosecutions would flow from this one.

Ex-judge Willem Heath was even more direct: "Crucial aspects [of the arms deal] were not investigated. Large chunks never surfaced. There are many things we will never know."

But it was particularly the "ordinary" witnesses, like Abdool Mangerah, a veteran of the struggle, and Jabu Ngcobo, chairperson of the Workers' College, which raises funds for trade union members, who seemed to cause Shaik the most discomfort.

Mangerah, a kwaDukuza businessman, had lent Shaik some money, which Shaik eventually repaid after seven years. This was after Shaik's cheques had been refused by the bank and Mangerah had to pay a lawyer to intervene.

Ngcobo was a director of Nkobi Holdings without even knowing it. His organisation allegedly did not receive a cent of the ten percent shareholding in Nkobi Holdings that had apparently been given to them. His only contribution to Shaik's group was a photo that appeared in their glossy brochure.

Shaik, a married man, was supported in court by his brothers. No women from the Shaik family have yet been in the courtroom. The rest of Shaik's support base consisted of two well-built bodyguards with sunglasses and an attractive young woman, believed to be his personal assistant, who helped carry the bulky set of court files.

On Monday the Shaik team will be back with their shiny black BMWs.

So too will advocate Billy Downer SC and his deputies of the state - because that is when chapter two of the Shaik saga will begin.

With acknowledgements to Adrian Basson and The Natal Witness.