Mention the name Schabir Shaik and Pietermaritzburg residents start walking away. That was the general reaction from most members of the public Thursday when The Witness tried to solicit reaction regarding his conviction.

Their reasons ranged from not wanting to be seen as racist to not wanting to be arrested for siding with Shaik.

However, the few brave ones were mostly satisfied with the judgment.

A group of university political science students added that they think there are many corrupt politicians.

"The only problem for Shaik is that he did not plan it correctly. He could have gotten away with it, but he failed to cover up his tracks," observed one student.

But they added that President Thabo Mbeki and the Scorpions must ferret out corrupt politicians.

A civil servant from Durban, who did not want to be named, welcomed the judgment. "We need to send a clear message that bribery and corruption will not be tolerated."

A senior citizen refused to have her picture taken and said she was not particularly happy that Shaik was found guilty. "I don't believe he did anything wrong that any other politician has not done before. I mean really, what is corruption and fraud? At the end of the day, all I care about is that he fought for our liberation."

However, the question that seemed to be on the forefront of the general public's mind was: "What is going to happen to Jacob Zuma?"

With acknowledgements to Mokgadi Seabi and The Natal Witness.