Former Deputy President Jacob Zuma made a surprise appearance in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is seeking to have documents released from Mauritius which pertain to meetings between Zuma, French arms manufacturer Thint and convicted businessman Schabir Shaik.

A small group of Zuma supporters were outside the court and a media scramble ensued as Zuma entered. Current Thint chief executive Pierre Moynot also made an appearance in court.

The case is expected to take two days and it is not clear when Judge Phillip Levinsohn will deliver judgment.

'Argument, supposition and rumour'

The NPA on December 12 asked the Durban high court to issue a letter of request to the Mauritian attorney-general in terms of the International Co-operation in Criminal Matters Act.

Levinsohn ruled in chambers that Zuma and Thint had until February 9 to file papers opposing the application, while the State had until March 2 to respond.

The documents in Mauritius include the 2000 diary of former Thint chief executive Alain Thetard.

In supporting documentation submitted last year, it was claimed that "the entry (in Thetard's diary) for 11 March 2000 is a particularly important piece of evidence for the State and the present prosecution".

Allegedly this entry shows that Thetard met "J Zuma + SS" (Schabir Shaik) in Durban on that day.

'Search and seizure raids carried out in Mauritius were unlawful'

Shaik was convicted of fraud and two counts of corruption by Judge Hilary Squires in July 2005.

On the second count of corruption Shaik was found guilty of trying to solicit a R500 000 bribe from Thetard for Zuma.

The supreme court of appeal later upheld the judgment and Shaik was sent to prison.

In March the NPA tried to get a similar letter of request, but Judge Pete Combrinck ruled it would have to be granted by the trial judge hearing the case against Zuma.

But in September last year Judge Herbert Msimang struck the case against Zuma and Thint from the roll.

On Thursday, legal teams for Thint and Zuma were using "argument, supposition and rumour" to oppose the state's bid to secure the release of the documents from Mauritius.

State prosecutor Billy Downer told the court that despite the defence's assertions that it had "unclean hands", the NPA had followed the correct diplomatic channels in its bid to secure the documents.

Levinsohn repeatedly questioned Downer about the NPA's proceedings in dealing through diplomatic channels to secure the documents.

The legal teams for both Thint and Zuma had argued that search and seizure raids carried out in Mauritius were unlawful.

They claimed in their papers filed that in 2001 a Mauritius Supreme Court order did not authorise copies of the seized documents to be given to the SA authorities and that it was improper for an SA court to adjudicate on the release of these documents.

Downer said that if Zuma and Thint believed that the State had "unclean hands" when it took copies of the documents - some of which were used as evidence in the 2005 corruption trial of Shaik - "the State should have the originals".

"All we have from the defence is argument, supposition and rumour."

This article was originally published on page 2 of Pretoria News on March 23, 2007

With acknowledgement to Independent Online.