Nelson Mandela and his staff have "no idea" what happened to a substantial slice of a R2 million gift which he gave to charities controlled by Deputy President Jacob Zuma, but which was subsequently siphoned out of Zuma's account by Schabir Shaik into one of Shaik's companies.

That was according to Mandela's aide-de-camp Zelda la Grange yesterday.

During the trial, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Billy Downer said that on October 2, 2000, Mandela endorsed a R2 million cheque in favour of Zuma.

He did not say what, if any, conditions Mandela attached to the gift, but half of it appeared to have been earmarked for the Jacob Zuma Education Trust. On October 17, 2000, Zuma paid R1 million to the trust.

The other half was paid to Development Africa, an entity originally described as a charity set up to support the Zulu royal house and traditional leaders - but found by Judge Squires to have been a trust established by Durban millionaire Vivian Reddy to aid indigent ANC members, but which had been used to channel funds into the royal house.

Squires found that Reddy and Shaik helped pay for Zuma's R1.15 million kraal in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.

Squires said in his judgment that Shaik had "taken the money for himself" *1.

A Durban legal expert in asset forfeiture, who prefers to remain anonymous, told the Independent on Saturday that Zuma could lose his expensive traditional homestead should the National Prosecuting Authority decide to charge him.

"While the unit cannot seize Zuma's expensive home in Nkandla at present, because it was a cost to Shaik, once the deputy president is charged, he might lose his homestead as it might be frozen as an asset."

Speaking yesterday from the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg in the absence of Mandela, who is abroad, La Grange said: "I don't think anyone is in a position to say what happened to it (the missing money). We have no idea."

With ackowledgements to Michael Schmidt, Bheko Madlala, Zukile Majova and the Saturday Independent.

*1 The money went into a pool of funds which was spent on various disbursements related to conspicuous consumption, including private school fees, university fees, business suits, bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and, possibly, rounds with Robin (although this latter consumption was less conspicuous or, on occasions, inconspicuous).

Possibly more important, is where the R2 million came from.

Another important question is the precise role Yusuf Surtee had to play in all this - his name is splodged across the record.

Where there's wonga, there's Surtee.

Like most volcanoes, only the very tip blew off.

Maybe the Revolutionaries can tell us more.