After nine days under cross-examination, some hard questions from the judge and his own witness contradicting him, the usually resilient Durban businessman Schabir Shaik had had enough.

He had to apologise to one of the prosecutors in his Durban High Court trial, Anton Steynberg, when he lost his temper and threatened to "sort out" Steynberg after the trial.

But there is one more day to go before Shaik's trial is expected to go into recess tomorrow and to resume next month.

In what must have been a superhuman effort, Shaik managed in the past week to remain cool, collected and admirably focused - apart from a few seconds of extreme irritation.

It has been more than three months of trial since Deputy President Jacob Zuma's financial adviser pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and fraud.

At times the incisive and long cross-examination by his main adversary, the leader of the prosecution Billy Downer, even had Judge Hilary Squires intervening.

"You have been cross-examining for over a week. Just hurry up. We don't have much time left," Squires said on day eight. "Is the finishing post in sight?" he asked on day nine. On day 10, Downer wrapped up his questions before the judge could comment.

During the tea adjournments Shaik and his brother, Mo, would stroll up the street to a nearby restaurant. Once Shaik met a homeless man, gave him money, and later sent him a sandwich.

Spotlight

On another occasion he helped a worker open a manhole in the pavement.

But it was his assistance to his close friend, Zuma, that was most firmly in the spotlight this week.

The state alleges there was a corrupt relationship between Shaik and Zuma. In short, its case is that Shaik paid Zuma and that Zuma helped Shaik in return. As part of his defence, Shaik said that there was a revolving credit agreement for R2 million between him and Shaik - signed, sealed and declared to parliament . . . and also missing, it seemed this week.

The state, which does not believe the loan agreement to be authentic, more specifically disputes that it was signed as long ago as May 1999, and wants the original document to send it for forensic analysis.

Shaik said he did not have it. He thought Zuma had it. Zuma's attorney, Julie Mohammed, this week told the court that Zuma thought she had it. She thought Zuma had it. The court thought parliament had it.

Mohammed and Shaik also gave contradictory evidence on where and when the agreement was signed.

The whereabouts of the elusive original elicited some straight questions from Squires:

Squires: Where is the original?

Shaik: Zuma has it.

Squires: Have you asked him for it?

Shaik: Several times.

Squires: You said it was in parliament.

Shaik: I told my counsel that I gave it to Zuma and he gave it to parliament. Zuma has it . . . most probably.

To add to the confusion Shaik's counsel, Francois van Zyl, handed a letter to court in which Secretary to Cabinet, Frank Chikane, said Zuma declared in 2001 that he owed Shaik R1.5 million. During the trial Shaik had only admitted, however, to making payments to, or on behalf of, Zuma totalling R666 000.

"Surely this can't be right," prodded Downer.

"Let's ask Frank Chikane," Shaik said.

It has become somewhat of a refrain in the past few days.When asked about an alleged fraudulent write-off in Nkobi's books, Shaik blamed his financial director Colin Isaacs and his auditors.

When asked about an alleged bribe agreement concluded between Zuma and French arms company Thomson, Shaik blamed the French.

When confronted with evidence showing, the state says, that he was never serious about claiming back the money he advanced to Zuma, Shaik blamed his bookkeepers.

By the end of the week he denied supplying the state with an updated schedule of payments made to Zuma and with a final figure of Zuma's indebtedness to him. By Friday Shaik snapped at Steynberg. It seemed he was not informed about discussions between his legal team and the state on attempts by investigators to interview more employees of Shaik's Nkobi group of companies.

Apologised

"I am not scared of you. I will sort you out after the trial. You are a racist . . . your time is over. Get that into your thick skull," Shaik said to Steynberg. Downer told the court that he added: "You will run from me like Bulelani (former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka) did."

When Shaik later apologised it came after a week where he often had to ask for "forgiveness" and, in one instance, for "mercy" when he became irritated and offensive during cross-examination.

In a lighter moment, Downer asked him about a letter written by the French, stating that "Schabir definitely has the sulks".

"I suffer from sinus," Shaik retorted. "It could just have been that."

The week ended with the evidence of the charming *1 Pierre Moynot of French arms company Thomson. He described the murky world of arms trading to the court, emphasising the importance of influence and intelligence. When asked about his views on black economic empowerment in South Africa, he answered that it was quite simple *2.

"Everything that is not a white male is black economic empowerment."

His evidence came after Shaik said that the French had a fundamental misunderstanding of BEE as they believed it only applied to black people, and that he would thus be excluded.

But Moynot said that when they at one stage sidelined Shaik's company in a business deal it was because they had received information that former president Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki did not approve of the Nkobi group of companies.

With ackowledgements to Estelle Ellis and the Sunday Tribune.

*1 "I am a French citizen, I have worked in South Africa since 1992 and have enjoyed full residential status since 2000. In 1996 I graduated as a Naval Architect and Engineer in the French Direction des Constructions et Armes Navales (now DGA).

I have been working for various French companies since 1971 in various locations such as Mauritania, Libya, Iraq, South Africa, The People’s Republic of China, Abu Dhabi and in French Guyana.

Until 1998, I was the Thomson-CSF delegate for the SADC countries, based in Pretoria. I was then appointed as Chief Executive Officer of ADS at the time when Thomson-CSF acquired 50% of ADS from ALTECH LIMITED."

Charming he may be when it suits, like testify to save his company colleague and therefore his company - even himself, this after having refused to co-operate with the State's invstigation.

Otherwise he is a vicious liar easily resorting to defamatory falsehoods and gratuitous personal slander, but unwilling to put same before a statutory public hearing and allow such "evidence" to be tested by public cross-examination.

And of being a briber and/or collaborator in the bribing of the "high and the mighty" - all to earn some beastly wonga for his main shareholder, the French Government and surely a bit of commission of the side.

As charming as a freshly snuffed truffle, a tasty subterranean fungus hitherto clinging desperately to the roots of a French oak.

*2 It was not so simple in 1997 to 1999.

BEE was only formalised after 2000.