I am enough of a businessman, enough of a friend and enough of a person not to have to resort to bribing Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

This was the message with which a sombre Schabir Shaik took the witness stand to give evidence in his own defence.

"The ANC is very dear to me. The party (taught) me to put my brothers before myself," he told the court.

A nervous-looking Shaik began his evidence just after 10am yesterday. He fiddled with his spectacles, took a sip of water and then looked at his counsel, Francois van Zyl SC.

At the defence's table, his brothers Chippy, Yunis and Mo were huddled together. Next to them sat Zuma's counsel, Mohammed Patel.

Shaik, who has pleaded not guilty to two charges of corruption and one of fraud, started his evidence by telling of his "special kind of comradeship" with Zuma.

He had first decided to join the ANC after his brothers were detained as a result "of a decision taken by Zuma".

"I don't believe that Zuma knew the gravity or the consequence of his decision."

He said his relationship with Zuma began during the anti-apartheid struggle, when Shaik was also involved in channelling funds to South Africa for the ANC's operations.

"We literally placed our lives in Zuma's hands," Shaik said.

He called his relationship with Zuma a "different kind of comradeship".

"But it was also a friendship ... Zuma always wanted to know how things were going back home. We developed a close relationship."

When Zuma returned to South Africa after the ANC was unbanned in 1990, it was the Shaik family that had taken him in. "There was no infrastructure for him. Helping him financially was an extension of our comradeship," Shaik told the court.

What of the state's allegation that this help was nothing but bribes, Van Zyl asked.

"That is untrue," Shaik responded. "Such an allegation clearly does not reflect the relationship I had with the deputy president."

He also said he had worked closely with a former ANC treasurer-general, Thomas Nkobi, during the struggle. Nkobi had planned for the ANC's financial independence by obtaining shares for the party.

"After Thomas Nkobi died (in October 1994), President Nelson Mandela asked me to place everything on hold."

In May 1995 the ANC's new treasurer-general, Makhenkesi Stofile, however, wrote to Shaik informing him that the ANC had decided not to support the vision he and Nkobi had had.

"It was not the first I heard of this," Shaik said.

He told the court that then deputy president Thabo Mbeki had earlier told him the party did not want to create the wrong impression as it wished to create a free market economy in South Africa.

Shaik then successfully pursued these business plans in his personal capacity. To house the income generated by these deals, he started two companies, Floryn Investments and Clegton Investments.

It was this money, Shaik explained, that he had used to make donations to the ANC.

He also explained notes he had made of plans to give shareholding in his Nkobi group of companies to the ANC.

"I first thought of giving the ANC shares in the company, but I had to respect Mbeki's view. At the same time I knew about the ANC's need for funds," Shaik said.

"At one stage I considered a nominal *1 shareholding for the party. I tried to set up some form of empowerment structure. The shareholding as planned did not materialise."

Shaik said he made more than R1-million in payments on behalf of the ANC during 1998 and 1999 *2, which included paying for the rental of safe houses and vehicles to be used during the election in 1999.

He told the court that in July 1995 he went to Malaysia with Zuma, who was then the KwaZulu Natal economic affairs MEC. "He asked me to go with him. It was a party meeting for the ANC. I accompanied him as his economic adviser for KwaZulu Natal. Zuma was looking at developing his own capacity to understand."

Presiding Judge Hilary Squires asked why Shaik had gone with Zuma as the KZN adviser if it was a party meeting.

"I was quite involved with Zuma. We discussed many things *3," Shaik said.

To allegations that he gave shares to the Workers College to strengthen his reputation as a black economic empowerment firm, Shaik replied: "I don't believe I need any other name. I am from a previously disadvantaged background *8."

He also admitted to paying for a safe house for Zuma at a time of political instability in KZN between 1996 and 1997 *9.

"I believed the ANC had to carry the cost as Zuma's life was threatened by a party-political fight. Zuma received an allowance, but his residence was not considered safe at all. He was staying in an apartment ... It was really quite simple."

When it was clear that the ANC could not pay the rent on the flat, Shaik paid it.

The trial continues.

With acknowledgements to Estelle Ellis and The Star.

*1  Didn't he mean nominee? There were surely no elocution course at the University of Hawaii and who needs elocution or pronunciation when engineering a high voltage empowerment.

*2  Excellent years - them Arms Deal years

1998-11-17 : Cabinet selects preferred suppliers, including Thomson-NCS and ADS for Corvette Combat Suite;

1999-12-03 : Cabinet authorises Chippy Shaik and January Boy Masilela to sign prime contracts, including that on Thomson-NCS and ADS for Corvette Combat Suite.

*3  Mainly bumiputera *4.

*4  Malaysian model for economic empowerment or "bumiputera" (translated as "empowerment of sons of the soil *5").

*5  Sometimes your sons, more often your brudders *6 *7.

*6  Al la "Hello my brudder, hello JZ" [http://www.armsdeal-vpo.co.za/articles07/pa_dumped.html]

*7  Or your friends, or your Party.

*8  Damn D.F. Malan, H.F. Verwoed, et al - now I'm presently and permanently disadvantaged and my brudder emigrated.

*9  Also excellent pre-Arms Deal years between :

1995 when the Corvette deal with Spain was cancelled; and
1997 when the DoD re-issued the Requests for Information.

These are known as the Defence Review Days - when all and sundry were reviewing and putting their own versions of bumiputera into place :

Joe Modise, Ron Haywood, Ian Deetlefs, The Kunene Brothers, Lambert Moloi, Richard Charter, John Bredenkamp, Llew Swan, Tony Ellingford, Dilisa Mji, Keith Mokape, Naested Moolman, Seth Palatse, Moeletsi Mbeki, et al.

There was so much concentration of effort on this aspect that someone forgot to do the SANDF's needs analysis and write the Staff Targets - so much so that it eventually drove Lt Gen (Retd) Pierre Dirksen Steyn into a petulant frenzy, but Shauket Fakie and his two fellow stooges would take no notice.