Schabir Shaik this morning admitted that the controversial note setting out an alleged record of understanding between French arms company Thomson and Deputy President Jacob Zuma was written by Thomson director Alain Thetard.

The State alleges that the note, in French, is an offer to pay Zuma R1 million over two years in exchange for his protection and the use of his name.

Handwriting expert Senior Superintendent Marius Rehders, from the Questioned Documents Unit of the police, told the Durban High Court that he had no doubt that the note was written by Thetard.

Shaik's counsel, Advocate Francois van Zyl SC, said while his client had no personal knowledge of the note, he was prepared to admit that Thetard wrote it.

Rehders was asked to determine if the note had been crumpled up or not, as Thetard had said in previous court documents that he had thrown the note in the dustbin. But his secretary, Sue Delique, told the court earlier that he had given it to her and asked her to type it.

Rehders was not given an opportunity to tell the court his conclusions, as Mr Justice Hilary Squires said at this stage what had happened to the handwritten note was irrelevant.

Rehders said that it was highly likely that Shaik wrote a note with the words "conflicts with intention" next to an anti-bribery clause in a service provider agreement between his company, Nkobi Holdings, and Thomson. The State said this was an attempt to hide the payment of bribe money. But Van Zyl has said that his client would testify the note was about a donation for the Jacob Zuma Education Trust.

With acknowledgements to Estelle Ellis and the Cape Argus.