FOR a considerable number of years, only a select few were privy to former transport minister Mac Maharaj’s answers to the questions put to him during his interrogation by Scorpions investigators. City Press this week caught sight of these answers and found that Maharaj and his wife, Zarina, were against the ropes, but, Maharaj being who he is, still managed to have his sense of humour shine through.

The transcript chronicles, among other matters: the deep relations between jailed fraudster Schabir Shaik and the Maharaj family – ties and friendships forged during the anti-apartheid struggle; Maharaj becoming a minister; Shaik getting lucrative tenders from his department; overseas bank accounts; computers installed in Maharaj’s home by Shaik; Shaik paying import duties and delivery costs for a marble table, which apparently holds significant sentimental value for the Maharaj family, and the establishment of the Milsek Family Trust.

During the interrogation, Maharaj pours his heart out for his wife, who provided for him until he started working in 1994. He also, indirectly, spoke of his desire to compensate for all the time he had been a “kept revolutionary”.

Herewith, a wily Maharaj, in his own words.

When asked to give his full name:

INVESTIGATOR: Mr Maharaj, what are your full names?

MAHARAJ: Do you want it pronounced or spelled? You are going to have a big time.

INVESTIGATOR: I want you to spell it, please.

MAHARAJ: S-a-t-h-a-n-d-r-a-n-a-t-h; second name, R-a-g-u-n-a-n-a-n; surname, M-a-h-a-r-a-j. And, I believe that with (protecting) children’s rights, the first clause should be: The right to choose your own name, (because) you (have to) live with it.

When asked to produce all documents under his control, including diaries and invoices for the period 1995 to 1999:

MAHARAJ: ... I have phoned the department of transport and told the acting minister. I said to him: ‘Jeff, this is public. This clears my name, but it also clears the government.’ He says it is confidential. I say there is nothing that I believe is confidential in the documents. He says he will consult and come back to me ... then a letter or something comes to the inquiry from the state attorney’s office. It says ‘the Scorpions have taken them, we can’t give it to you’. I go to the state expenditure – the Scorpions have taken it. The only chaps who have been co-operative with me was (sic) the Roads Agency. They say, “the Scorpions have taken them but we have copies”. I go to MNF Shipping, right? You blighters have been there and have taken them. And you are asking me to give you documents. Now? (laughs).

In the end, Maharaj is asked if there is anything else he would like to add to his statement. Here he seems to lose his cool:

MAHARAJ: Don’t you know enough? Jesus Christ. Never, man. I mean, you know so much, literally, and, yes, there are so many vaguenesses here. You want to be suspicious of everything? Don’t ask me for more. It is just going to give you sleepless nights and take you – take us – nowhere. Just give me peace of mind.

INVESTIGATOR: Nothing else?

MAHARAJ: Just give me peace of mind ...

Explaining the bills for the computers installed in the house by Computers Etcetera, Maharaj responded as follows:

MAHARAJ: This is a bill from December, 1997. R37 000 and R11 000 are put against the name minister Maharaj, right? Same thing – not for me, but everything is identified as ‘minister Maharaj’. But, if you look at this here ... (intervention)

INVESTIGATOR: Can you just stand still there? Why would they refer to minister Maharaj if it is not for you?

MAHARAJ: It is the biggest name in any family. I don’t know whether you experience it. You look like a senior advocate. I don’t know if your husband is referred to as Annemarie’s husband?

INVESTIGATOR: Not married, yet (laughs). I am getting married in November.

MAHARAJ: This is the sexist society we live in. It is one of the inheritances. I am a prominent person, I am a minister. It is in everybody’s mind that it is a ranking, right? You can say: ‘Do this job for minister Maharaj, it’s urgent’. But say: ‘Do this job for Zarina Karim’, and you will see. So, she has given up and is now called Mrs Maharaj. That is the logic of life.

When asked about the possibility of his wife getting an executive position in one of Shaik’s companies:

INVESTIGATOR: Do you know of any letter, or discussion between, your wife and Mr Colin Isaacs about a possible executive position in Shaik’s company?

MAHARAJ: Yes, roughly. I don’t know the details, but I know that when my wife joined MJ Labs as a 50% partner, they ran into problems of working capital. They then took a decision – she and her partner – that they should try and find an equity partner. I think amongst the people she approached was Schabir (Shaik) and it never came to anything. In fact, I believe that Schabir Shaik turned it down. He thought these two crazy women were running a business that will never make money. I mean, it was a unique opportunity for the bloody swine to give me a million instead of this measly R510 000. He could have just given my wife five million and sorted it out.

Mrs Maharaj explains her battle with finances:

INVESTIGATOR: You said you expected it from your husband to ... look after the financial statements of Fleischam (the Maharaj family-owned business)?

MRS MAHARAJ: Of everything – the mortgage, the bond. Basically, I was in a mode of protest. I was in protest against my circumstances. I said: ‘Listen, I have given up my whole life and came back to South Africa. We expected some sense of normality, but you are off to Cape Town for five years.’ The reason I could not go is that I didn’t want to unsettle the children again if we were still going to see him for two hours a day.

Mrs Maharaj has some difficulty explaining a cheque made out to her husband, by Shaik:

INVESTIGATOR: Is that your signature?

MRS MAHARAJ: No, that is not my signature.

INVESTIGATOR: Was it your husband’s signature?

MRS MAHARAJ: Ja, it seems to be.

INVESTIGATOR: So, the cheque was made out in the name of your husband and deposited on the same day. Can you remember who received the cheque?

MRS MAHARAJ: I have no idea.

INVESTIGATOR: Do you know what the cheque was for? What was the reason for this amount?

MRS MAHARAJ: It was paid to ... it was instalments for my work done.

INVESTIGATOR: How do you know that it was for that purpose?

MRS MAHARAJ: Simply because I was working for Mr Shaik and regularly updating him through discussion, advice and meetings. I would invoice him and expect to be paid and he would not pay me in one lump sum.

INVESTIGATOR: Why was it not for your husband?

MRS MAHARAJ: Why would Mr Shaik pay my husband when I am doing work for him? I wish he had just made it all in the name of Fleischam to save us all this hassle.

With acknowledgement to Jackie Mapiloko and City Press.