"Well, that is the end of a chapter in my life, isn't it?" Schabir Shaik said yesterday.

"I've gone from presidents' offices and high places to somewhere else. But that's okay, I'll deal with it.

"And, listen, I don't want any special privileges or any of that stuff. I'll deal with jail just like everyone else has to do it."

This was the image the shaken Durban businessman projected to the world before flying home from Cape Town to spend the last few hours of freedom with his wife, baby and family.

Shaik was speaking as he sat among family and friends on the verandah of a Cape Town hotel minutes after they had listened to Supreme Court of Appeal Judge President Craig Howie reading the judgment in which all of Shaik's appeals against his conviction and sentence for fraud and corruption had been dismissed.

Shaik, 48, rallied himself and said he had better get moving back to Durban because the most important thing now was to spend time with his wife, Zuleika, and young son, Yasir. He said all other necessary arrangements relating to his family and business had been made - and now it was time to spend time with his family.

He will, in all likelihood, have to report to Westville Prison near Durban in the next 48 hours unless his counsel are able to find a good reason for an appeal to the Constitutional Court, which would allow him to apply for a bail extension.

With acknowledgement to Jeremy Gordin and Cape Argus.