ON THE TRAIL OF THE ELUSIVE SHAIK
As speculation mounts that he’ll testify against Jacob Zuma, we try to track down ‘terminally ill’ Schabir Shaik
AGUARD snoozes in the shade of a palm tree outside one of the imposing iron gates leading to the double-storey house – a home well-concealed behind foliage that droops in the humidity of early-summer Durban. Standing in front of the gate in the luxury suburb of Morningside, we have the distinct feeling we’re being watched – and our suspicions are confirmed when we look up and see a CCTV camera observing our every move.
Privacy and security is clearly a big concern for Schabir Shaik. “Mr Shaik is busy – he can’t see people now,” the sleepy guard tells us when we wake him.
We’d hoped the disgraced businessman might have a change of heart and invite us in. Earlier in the week he’d agreed to an interview, only to withdraw via a WhatsApp message two days later.
Still, it was worth a try. Two years ago he invited us in – maybe he would again. There was a lot to talk about.
Shaik has been on medical parole since 2009. He was meant to be serving a 15-year sentence for corruption but he’s been living in the lap of luxury since he was allowed back home, apparently too ill for jail.
A long-time confidante of and former financial adviser to President Jacob Zuma, Shaik recently made headlines again when he said he’d testify against No 1 if a court were to subpoena him.
On 13 October, Zuma and the national prosecuting authority approached the supreme court of appeal in an effort to overthrow a decision by the high court in Pretoria regarding the prosecution of Zuma on charges of fraud and corruption.
Shaik has less than two years of his parole left before he’s truly a
‘Of course I can’t refuse to testify if I’m called to do so’
free man. Zuma is the reason he was caught and sentenced in 2005, and Zuma has insisted he’s cut all ties with the convicted fraudster.
But if Shaik does take the stand it won’t be in the interest of getting his own back, he says.
“Of course I can’t refuse to testify if I’m called to do so,” Shaik told The Sunday Tribune. “I’ll be guided by my conscience and welcome the opportunity to put certain aspects of my relationship and dealings with the president into perspective – which I didn’t have the opportunity to do previously.”
“I’ve matured over the years and with each passing year you learn to let go of the bitterness.
“I no longer have the relationship I had with the president before my conviction. But I have closure and any testimony I give will be based on facts, not any kind of vengeance.”
We’d hoped he’d talk to us about this and other things but it wasn’t meant to be. So we tried to find out what he’d been doing since we last saw him.
AT SPIGA D’Oro, a local Italian restaurant known to be one of Shaik’s favourite haunts, clients are enjoying pasta and strong coffee. Two older men are sitting to one side, sipping espressos. “Yes,” one of them confirms, “Schabir was here only yesterday. He often comes here and has a coffee or two. He’s always very friendly and jovial with the waiters.
“They’ll greet him by name – it’s like a home away from home for him.”
They’ve even named a dish on the menu after him: Linguine à la Shaik. It’s linguine pasta with olive oil, garlic, chilli and fresh tomato.
“The dish has been on the menu for a year,” says the manager, who doesn’t want to be named.
“Before all the controversy Schabir used to come here and tell the waiters what to bring him. The dish didn’t exist but he ordered it so often that the owners decided to put it on the menu. It’s quite popular.”
It’s unclear whether Shaik’s wife, Zuleika, ever joins him for a bowl of Linguine à la Shaik. In 2013 the pair were reported to have become estranged, but reconciled soon after. Still, whispers of trouble behind the high walls of the Shaiks’ luxury home persist.
We head for the exclusive Durban Country Club where Shaik has been seen regularly since his release. He’d apparently applied for membership in 2015, much to the other members’ outrage.
He’s been spotted teeing off here, giving rise to questions about his “terminal illness” – the dangerously high blood pressure apparently threatening his life.
Here too there’s a guard who asks uncomfortable questions about the reason for our visit but with a little luck we manage to get in.
One golfer raises an eyebrow when we ask if Shaik plays golf here. “I haven’t seen him here but it would be a shame if he’d been accepted as a member.”
Other than a penchant for pasta and putting, not much else is known about how the erstwhile businessman spends his time these days.
Before he was found guilty he was the founder of Nkobi Holdings, an investment firm that used to specialise in government tenders and investments.
His former pal Zuma has 783 counts against him but it remains to be seen whether Shaik will be instrumental in the case.
And until he’s called to the stand, life carries on for Schabir Shaik in sunny Durban. ADDITIONAL SOURCES: PRESSREADER.COM, WIKIPEDIA.ORG, MG.CO.ZA, NEWS24.COM, IOL.CO.ZA, ENCA.COM