Mbeki to consider what action to take

Deputy President Jacob Zuma said on Friday his conscience is clear, even as President Thabo Mbeki said he will be considering what action to take over the political fall-out from the Schabir Shaik trial.

Both Mbeki and Zuma arrived back in the country on Friday night from trips abroad. Neither commented to the waiting media at Waterkloof Airforce Base in Pretoria, but Zuma is set to hold a press conference on Sunday. As both he and Mbeki will be in Pretoria on Saturday, it seems likely that they will meet.

Shaik was convicted of fraud and corruption in the Durban High Court this week for paying Zuma money for political favours and soliciting a bribe from a French arms firm on his behalf.

Judge Hillary Squires approved an application on Friday afternoon by the NPA's Assets Forfeiture Unit to seize nearly R30 million of Shaik's assets.

The assets consist of R22,5 million in shares in Thint Pty Ltd, the company through which Shaik became an indirect shareholder in African Defence Systems (ADS) that benefited from the government's arms deal, R250 000 cash and R7,2 million in other shares. According to the ruling Shaik does not have to hand the assets over, but he has to give notice if he wishes to trade them.

Zuma returned from an official visit to Lusaka, where he took the unusual step of referring to his role in the Shaik matter in the middle of a lunch with business people. "My conscience is clear because I know that I have not committed any crime, nor was I charged with any criminal offence," Zuma told his audience. ''I thought I would share that with you since we have the opportunity to meet here today,'' he said.

The then head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Bulelani Ngcuka, said in 2003 there was prima facie evidence against Zuma as well as Shaik, but a court case against the deputy president would be unwinnable and only Shaik was charged.

Zuma said he has not had time to study the judgment, and therefore could not make any more detailed comment. Analysts said Squires' judgment against Shaik suggested Zuma also has a case to answer, and said there will be pressure on the NPA to charge Zuma with corruption.

In his first statement on the matter, Mbeki told participants at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Africa Economic Summit in Cape Town: "We will look at what the judge has said - I'm told the judgment amounts to 165 pages - and then in the aftermath we will see what actions it may be necessary to take."

He was responding to a challenge from Jonathan Shapiro, better known as the cartoonist Zapiro, regarding his reaction to the Shaik judgment.

Zapiro asked: "It must be very difficult for you, Mr President. You come back from New York, the African Union dominates the front pages of Europe, but in South African papers the story is moved to the inside by a replacement: the question of our deputy president. What do you plan to do in the light of what has been said at this conference about good corporate governance?"

An uncomfortable silence hung over the delegates, but Mbeki answered undaunted: "I think everyone knows what I'm going to say. We will look at what the judge has said and then in the aftermath we will see what actions it may be necessary to take."

The president's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, said "the president sees the matter as high on his list of priorities and he wants to give it the attention it deserves".

Given Mbeki's strong anti-corruption stance, all eyes are on the president concerning what, if any action, the government will now take.

Evidence heard in aggravation of sentence for Shaik on Friday focused on the extent of corruption and the damage it causes the poor.

"It is the poor woman and man who is too often the ultimate victim of corrupt activity perpetrated by members of the business and political elite in a quest for conspicuous consumption - euphemistically known as 'living beyond their means'," state witness Hennie van Vuuren told the Durban High Court.

Van Vuuren, a senior anti-corruption researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said that in a country such as South Africa, corruption would affect the poor as the country's elite interests are secured by "bribes and influence peddling behind closed doors".

"The delivery of basic services are hampered, a drag is placed on economic growth and investment, both domestic and foreign, slows to a gentle trickle. The overwhelming negative impact that corruption and particularly political corruption in large procurement deals has on a country weaves its way into the economy, creating investor uncertainty, and distorting public expenditure in favour of projects that are more often white elephants than power economic growth and job creation," he said.

According to his research, public sector corruption costs South Africa R50 billion to R150 billion per year.

Shaik's defence will present their arguments in mitigation of sentence on Tuesday. The minimum sentence for corruption is 15 years.

With acknowledgements to Nivashni Nair, Jan-Jan Joubert, Sapa and The Natal Witness.