A full bench of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein intends to start hearing the five-day appeal of Schabir Shaik and 11 of his companies against their conviction and sentence tomorrow, though it is a public holiday.

On October 11, 2004, in the most-talked-about and influential trial in modern South African history, along with Jacob Zuma's rape trial, Shaik and his companies (all represented by him) appeared in the Durban High Court charged on three counts of corruption and fraud.

On June 2 last year, Shaik, a Durban entrepreneur and former financial "adviser" to Zuma, then the deputy president of the country, was found guilty on all three counts by Judge Hilary Squires and two assessors. On June 8, Shaik, who comes from a prominent family of ANC activists, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.

On July 26 last year Squires refused Shaik leave to appeal on the main count of corruption. But this ruling was overturned by the SCA on November 15 last year and, after one postponement, Shaik's appeal date was set down for tomorrow.

Because of Squires' finding that a "generally corrupt relationship" had existed between Shaik and Zuma, President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma from the deputy presidency on June 14 last year.

Zuma was then charged with corruption and fraud on June 20 last year. Charged alongside Zuma, though later in the year, was Thint, the local arm of the giant French arms manufacturer, Thales.

Thint was originally charged alongside Shaik in 2004. But charges were dropped against it following an agreement made by Thint and Penuel Maduna, the then minister of justice, and Bulelani Ngcuka, the then National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).

This week in the Pietermaritzburg High Court the charges against Zuma and Thint were struck off the roll by Judge Herbert Msimang, who refused a state application for a postponement of the Zuma/Thint trial until next year.

The state then indicated that it was not ready to continue - and Msimang struck the charges from the roll. But they can be reinstated by Vusi Pikoli, the national director of public prosecutions.

The eight-month Shaik trial involved thousands of pages of documentary evidence. For tomorrow's appeal, the state's heads of argument alone are 241 pages long. Shaik's 159 pages of heads of argument have been compiled by Francois van Zyl SC, who defended Shaik in Durban, but he has been joined by well-known Cape Town advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC, who will spearhead the appeal application.

The issues that will be argued cover the full gamut of evidence led at Shaik's trial, with the main emphasis on the state's argument that Shaik "bought" Zuma's influence and power to help him (Shaik) in business ventures.

The most notable of these "corrupt acts" - that Squires accepted - was that Shaik had, with Zuma's knowledge, solicited a R250 000 a year bribe for Zuma from Thint (then known as Thomson-CSF Africa), in exchange for Zuma agreeing to protect Thint from the government investigation into the arms deal.

Gauntlett and Van Zyl argue in their papers that Squires "erred" in not accepting that the payments - estimated by Shaik to be worth about R880 000 - were loans and gifts made out of friendship.

With acknowledgement to Jeremy Gordin and Sunday Tribune.