Cape Town — Government has picked up the tab for former deputy president Jacob Zuma’s lawyers’ watching brief during the eight-month-long Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said in Parliament yesterday.

At the conclusion of the trial in July, Judge Hilary Squires convicted Shaik and found that he had a “generally corrupt relationship” with Zuma.

Yesterday’s revelation sparked controversy, with the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) questioning the morality of the payment. Zuma is now facing corruption charges himself, following Squires’ finding.

Responding to a question on the funding of Zuma’s defence, Mlambo-Ngcuka said the presidency had paid for a legal “watching brief” in court, but could not disclose the amount.

She said the final accounts had not been presented for payment so she was unable to say how much the bill would come to.

DA MP Sheila Camerer said the opposition was worried that taxpayers’ money would be used to pay “what will clearly be massive legal costs”.

“It is true that there may be no precedent for a deputy president’s lawyers to be keeping a watching brief for him in a corruption case in which he might have been implicated. But the state law adviser’s go-ahead for this payment is nevertheless surprising.

“Basic principles for such cases should be adhered to, namely that the state should pay legal costs only where criminal charges are faced as a consequence of actions taken in the course of duties of office,” Camerer said.

“Surely the ‘generally corrupt relationship’ which the court found Mr Zuma had with Shaik cannot be legitimately considered to be conducted in the course of his duties as deputy president?” Camerer said.

Mlambo-Ngcuka said that the presidency had agreed to fund the costs of a watching brief after a recommendation made by the chief state law adviser.

However, she said there had been no requests to the presidency to fund Zuma’s legal costs during his own trial.

ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe demanded to know why the opposition asked questions when Zuma’s legal fees were at issue, but did not ask similar questions when the state covered the legal fees of Magnus Malan and Wouter Basson for much more “heinous” crimes. The deputy president agreed with him.

With acknowledgements to Wyndham Hartley and the Business Day.