Schabir Shaik who was a former financial advisor convicted under President Jacob Zuma has declared his willingness to bear witness and testify in court when the corruption‚ fraud and racketeering charges are presented in the court against Zuma.
The former advisor was only able to serve 28 months out of the stipulated 15-year jail sentence issued to him for crimes of fraud and corruption related to the arms deal before he was able to procure a medical parole due to a “terminal illness”.
Schabir Shaik was enthusiastic about talking the arms deal. He revealed in an interview published on Tuesday on the Daily News newspaper in Durban‚ that he was excited to hear that President Zuma may get his day in court and that he may have to testify. He nonetheless, emphasized that the president was never a part of the arms procurement deal.
“There has been a well-planned strategy to discredit the president and myself by certain members within our organisation‚ the ANC, ever since Zuma stepped into office. I have always stated that President Zuma was never involved in the arms procurement deal or influenced any company‚ including my own‚ to win or lose any tender‚” he said.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited probe result of the #ArmsDeal was announced on Thursday April 21 with President Jacob Zuma saying that no evidence of fraud and corruption was found in the controversial arms deal.
In an address on television, the president said the Seriti commission of inquiry into the 1999 arms deal had found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Cabinet of the day or any government official.
Nevertheless, when it seemed all was going well for Zuma, a full bench of the Pretoria High Court handed him 738 charges of corruption charges by setting aside a decision by former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Mokotedi Mpshe not to prosecute the president in April 2009.
