Schabir Shaik sat with his eyes closed and prayer beads clutched in his right hand throughout most of Judge Hilary Squires’ complex judgment at the Durban High Court on Friday.

Shaik’s bid to stay out of jail now moves to the appeal courts, following his partially successful application for leave to appeal against his convictions on corruption and fraud charges.

Judge Squires said there was no merit in Shaik’s application for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence for conducting a corrupt relationship with sacked Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

Shaik was given a 15-year jail sentence for giving Zuma R1.2-million in exchange for Zuma’s interventions in several business deals.

Another court, Judge Squires ruled, was unlikely to find differently to the trial court on the conviction and sentence.

However, the judge granted leave to appeal to one of Shaik’s companies, Nkobi Investments, on the basis that it had not been used to make corrupt payments to Zuma.

On the second count — of illegally writing off the Zuma payments as development expenses — Judge Squires granted Shaik leave to appeal against his fraud conviction. He said another court might give greater weight to Shaik’s version of events at the meetings at which the write-off was discussed.

The judge, however, refused Shaik leave to appeal against the three-year jail sentence on this count, as the offence carried a minimum sentence of 15 years, yet he had imposed a much lighter sentence.

On the third count, of soliciting a bribe of R1-million on Zuma’s behalf from French arms dealer Thomson (now Thint), Judge Squires granted leave to appeal on a technicality. He said his interpretation of law on the admissibility of the fax confirming the bribe might be different from that of another court.

He gave Shaik 21 days to petition the president of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein for leave to appeal on the first count of corruption. If he fails to do so, he will have to pay the R500000 that his companies — with the exception of Nkobi Investments — were fined.

The judge also suspended the fines imposed on Shaik’s companies — totalling about R3,2-million — on the second and third charges, pending the outcome of the appeal.

After the judgment, Shaik said that he would consult his lawyers regarding petitioning the appeal courts.

“Be cool,” he quipped to reporters.

Scorpions spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said they “respected” the judgment, but were “naturally disappointed” about the outcome on the fraud and the second corruption charge.

Nkosi said they expected the appeal to take around a year. “We came into this matter prepared for the long haul,” he said.

With acknowledgements to Paddy Harper and the Sunday Times.