The state has for the first time taken direct aim at Deputy President Jacob Zuma, saying he contravened his constitutional duty by providing assistance to his friend and financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.

Both the state and the defence have generally stayed clear of the deputy president during proceedings after presiding Judge Hillary Squires said in his opening speech that Zuma was not on trial.

But commencing his closing arguments yesterday, prosecutor Billy Downer said Zuma had “at the very least exposed himself to a situation involving the risk of a conflict of interest between his official responsibilities and private interests, and thus acted in neglect of his duties”.

Explaining the state’s ambit, Downer opened with the Virgil quote “O tempora, o mores!” (oh the times, oh the morals) before calling for a guilty verdict on all charges.

Shaik has pleaded not guilty to two counts of corruption and one of fraud.

Downer said the state had proved that Shaik had employed Zuma’s assistance in an attempt to gain business advantage in projects such as the Point Waterfront Development Project in Durban and the establishment of an ecotourism school in KwaZulu-Natal.

“The state has proved there are two processes some bidders followed to secure government contracts … formal tendering (and a) second parallel informal process of private contacts with influential people in government,” he said.

One quote from the testimony of French arms company Thales executive Pierre Moynot was the belief that “informal contact at high political level provided the edge over competitors”.

Downer said that the informal process contravened the constitution, as state tenders had to be concluded in a “fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective” manner.

In the other corruption charge against Shaik, the state alleges that he attempted to solicit a bribe for Zuma from Thomson-CSF.

This was in exchange for protection during investigations into alleged irregularities in SA’s multibillion-rand arms purchase.

The fraud charge relates to allegedly irregular write-offs of R1,2m from the books of his Nkobi group of companies, which the state says were bribes for Zuma.

Further deriding the deputy president, Downer said their relationship was “a deplorable system of corrupt patronage calculated to maintain Zuma in positions where he (could) further the interests of Shaik and his companies”.

He said Zuma’s financial future was linked intrinsically to Nkobi’s success with the businessman increasingly less likely to recall any loans if the company became profitable. Downer wraps up his arguments today or Thursday.

With acknowledgements to Tim Cohen, Nicola Jenvey and the Business Day.