Durban businessman Schabir Shaik’s bid to stay out of jail goes to the Durban High Court on Tuesday when he seeks leave to appeal against his 15-year jail sentence on corruption charges.

Shaik has instructed his counsel, Francois van Zyl, to appeal against conviction and sentence, as well as the series of hefty fines imposed on him by Judge Hilary Squires in June.

Squires sentenced Shaik to 15 years on each of two counts of corruption and another three years on one of fraud. Squires ordered that the sentences run concurrently. He fined 10 companies in the Nkobi group amounts varying from R25000 to R1.4-million each. Shaik subsequently resigned as Nkobi boss.

Squires found Shaik and former Deputy President Jacob Zuma had had a “generally corrupt relationship” in which Shaik had given Zuma around R1.2-million in return for protecting him and punting his business interests. He also found Shaik had solicited a bribe of R1-million from French arms dealer Thomson (now Thint) on Zuma’s behalf.

Shaik was released on bail of R100000 pending the hearing of his application.

After the sentence, President Thabo Mbeki axed his deputy and friend of 30 years, setting in motion a revolt within the ANC by Zuma’s backers, who rejected Zuma’s decision to ask to be excused from party activities.

Shaik’s lawyer, Reeves Parsee, said that if Squires granted the application, a date would be set by the High Court for the appeal to be heard either in Pietermaritzburg or Bloemfontein. Should Tuesday’s application fail, Shaik has instructed his legal team to petition the President of the Supreme Court of Appeal to override Squires’s decision.

With acknowledgements to Paddy Harper and the Sunday Times.