Publication: Mail and Guardian Issued: Date: 2006-08-10 Reporter: Sapa Reporter:

Shaik Appeal Hearing Postponed for a Month

 

Publication 

Mail and Guardian
Date

2006-08-10

Reporter

Sapa 

Web Link

www.mg.co.za

 

The appeal hearing for Durban businessman Schabir Shaik in the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein has been postponed by more than a month, the court said on Thursday.

Shaik -- who was the financial adviser of former deputy president Jacob Zuma -- appealed his conviction last year on corruption and fraud charges in a trial that implicated Zuma in an arms-procurement scandal, prompting Zuma's dismissal from the nation's second-highest office.

The hearing was expected to take place from August 21 to 25, but has been postponed to September 25 to 29.

The reason for the postponement is because one of the five judges to preside on the matter, Deputy President of the Court Lex Mpati, has to undergo an operation. He will then need a month to recuperate.

Zuma, one of South Africa's most popular politicians and once seen as heir apparent to President Thabo Mbeki, has himself been charged with graft in connection with the Shaik case and had been expected to go on trial this month.

But that trial was delayed until September 5, infuriating his supporters who say Zuma is being denied the chance to defend himself against what they describe as a politically motivated case designed to thwart his presidential hopes.

Postponing Shaik's appeal could further delay Zuma's trial as the appeal hearing will touch on many of the same matters of fact expected to be introduced in the Zuma case.

State prosecutors had already asked that Zuma's trial be postponed until early next year, saying they needed more time to prepare. Zuma's lawyers have asked for the case be dismissed or allowed to proceed swiftly.

Zuma remains deputy president of the ruling African National Congress and his supporters, mostly from the left wing of the ANC, its trade union and communist allies and the Zulu community, are determined to see him at the helm after Mbeki steps down in 2009.

Live broadcast

An application brought by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for the Shaik appeal to be broadcast live on television and radio will, however, still be heard by the court on Monday.

A court official said Mpati's place would be filled by another judge during the SABC's application hearing.

According to papers filed at the Supreme Court of Appeal this week, the public broadcaster wants to broadcast both television footage and live radio.

SABC chief legal adviser Masika Sihlali said in an affidavit that, as a possible alternative, the broadcaster wants permission to be present and record the appeal proceedings for the purposes of a delayed broadcast.

Sihlali said the SABC only wants to broadcast argument by legal counsel and not oral evidence that may be led.

With acknowledgement to Sapa and Mail & Guardian.