When Bulelani Ngcuka, then head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said in August 2003 that he had evidence of corruption against Jacob Zuma, he set in motion a protracted political drama that has claimed a number of careers.

The biggest victim is, of course, Zuma himself. Barely a week after being sacked from government by President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma now faces two charges of corruption following the NPA’s announcement yesterday that it would finally give him his day in court.

The announcement comes just three weeks after his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison for corruption and fraud. Shaik, who is appealing, is the second person to have fallen in this seemingly never-ending saga — but not the only one.

There is former Sunday Times journalist Ranjeni Munusamy who, when working for the Sunday Times, leaked an article to City Press alleging Ngcuka had been an apartheid spy. Former Sunday Times editor Mathatha Tsedu refused to run her story on the grounds that it could not be corroborated. The paper later fired Munusamy.

Vusi Mona, former City Press editor who ran Munusamy’s story, was reprimanded harshly by Judge Joos Hefer, who chaired a commission set up by Mbeki to probe the Ngcuka spy claims, for printing the story and for divulging information discussed when Ngcuka gave newspaper editors an off-the-record briefing.

Mona resigned after it was found he was involved in a public relations company, a circumstance that conflicted with his role as editor.

The spy allegations against Ngcuka originated from Mo Shaik and Mac Maharaj. The pair assumed that their allegations would stick, without much evidence.

Maharaj and Mo Shaik were forced to admit they did not know whether Ngcuka had been a spy. In so doing they damaged the credibility they enjoyed in the ruling African National Congress as veteran antiapartheid activists.

Ngcuka, vindicated by the commission, left the NPA last July. While Mo and Schabir Shaik have fallen from grace, another Shaik brother, Shamin “Chippy” Shaik, formerly head of acquisitions at the defence department, came into the spotlight in 2001 during investigations into corruption in the arms deal. He was accused of corruptly awarding a contract to Schabir, and was later suspended.

With Zuma finally due to get his day in court, it remains to be seen how many more people are likely to fall with him if he is convicted.

With acknowledgements to Razina Munshi and the Business Day.