It was with a tribute to three woman witnesses that the head of the team that prosecuted Durban businessman Schabir Shaik said a big "thank you" for the appeal judgment that went the state's way.

Speaking in the gaps between members of his team entering his office and his having to answer the incessantly ringing phone, Billy Downer did not describe himself as being elated or happy.

Instead, he spoke of vindication and of his gratitude to the witnesses who had made it possible for the Supreme Court of Appeal to uphold the Durban High Court's findings that Shaik was guilty of corruption and fraud .

Referring to Shaik's former secretary, Bianca Singh, and former bookkeeper, Cecilia Bester, and Sue Delique, former secretary to then-Thomson-CSF director Alain Thetard, Downer said: "It is clear they are very, very brave people.

"They were vindicated for their bravery. They never wanted to be famous.

"We are lawyers. This case is the type of thing we get paid to do. They did not get paid for what they did. I hope that they will become an example to others on how important it is to give evidence to root out corruption."

The three women were among the state's crucial witnesses in the case against Shaik.

The evidence of Singh, who testified in court in the company of bodyguards, was of particular importance in that she outlined what she knew about the close personal and financial relationship between Shaik and Jacob Zuma while Zuma was an MEC and later national deputy president.

She also gave investigators Shaik's diary, which helped them piece the puzzle together.

Bester, former bookkeeper for Shaik's company Nkobi Holdings, said money paid as cash bribes to a number of government ministers had been written off in Nkobi's books.

Delique, who had two bodyguards, gave investigators the controversial encrypted fax sent by Thetard to his principals overseas in Thomson-CSF, now called Thint.

She found the handwritten fax setting out what investigators believed to be details of an agreement that Zuma be paid large sums for "protection" during investigations into the government's arms deal.

She also found the disk on which she had saved the typed version and gave this to the Scorpions.

Downer said it was of particular significance that the appeal court had found the encrypted fax could be used as evidence, even in Thetard's absence from court.

Within minutes of the appeal judgment being delivered yesterday, the prosecution's team of investigators, advocates and auditors were preparing to get together to plan and to celebrate.

Downer said the months since their case against Zuma was removed from the court roll had been difficult for the team.

"We were disappointed, but the decision did not put us off our stride."

The defence team had not contacted his team about taking action to prevent Shaik going to prison tomorrow, although it might approach the Constitutional Court for relief, Downer said.

It was important that someone like Shaik go to prison for what he did, Downer said.

"(His crime) was one of the most serious … a person can commit. Corruption is bad for society. The case we brought against him was completely damning. It was corruption at a high level for a sustained period."

Downer said the appeal judgment was only one of the matters the prosecution wanted finalised before it decided its next step in the Zuma case.

With acknowledgement to Estelle Ellis and Cape Times.