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By Sihle Mavuso 
11h ago
Pietermaritzburg – The National Tax Authority (NPA) says it accused the French arms manufacturer Thales of extortion because the company knowingly participated in a scheme to bribe former President Jacob Zuma in exchange for his influence and political protection.
This was the main point of the prosecution’s argument before the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday, where Thales wants the racketeering charges against him dropped in the Zuma corruption trial (where they are co-defendants).
Organized crime is when people get involved in organized crime and try to cover their tracks using legitimate companies and payment systems.
The NPA was represented by lawyer Wim Trengove, while the French arms company was represented by lawyer Barry Roux.
Trengove told the entire court that at some point Thales paid a bribe to Zuma through Nkobi Holdings, a company owned by convicted Durban businessman Shaik and that it was “disguised” as a “service fee.” But to protect himself, he kept his distance and used his proxy, Shaik.
Nkobi was Thales’ black economic empowerment partner during the country’s multi-million dollar arms acquisition in the late 1990s. The court heard that Thales partnered with Nkobi because he believed the company had the right political connections in the ruling party and the connection was Zuma, who provided “political capital.”
Trengove told the court that Zuma once attended a meeting in London in November 1998 to meet with Thales executives and the goal was to persuade them that Shaik’s Nkobi was the right local company to partner with.
Shaik is said to have reveled in the fact that he was able to use his political connections and bring Zuma to a meeting to defend his case. Eventually, the deal was closed and Thales had to partner with Nkobi.
Trengove further told the court that his case against Thales was based on circumstantial evidence. One piece of evidence is the now infamous “encrypted fax” sent in 2000 by Nkobi Holdings to Thales negotiating a R500,000 annual bribe for Zuma.
“They knew at the time that Mr. Shaik was bribing Mr. Zuma and what they did … was join in that project to bribe Mr. Zuma and the higher court (of Durban) determined that this was the case,” argued Trengove on behalf of the State.
According to the legal representative of the State (Trengove) during the hearing, Shaik “had Zuma in his pocket” to such an extent that during a period of 10 years he bribed him 783 times. However, he did not specify the amounts of money or favors that were advanced to Zuma in all these cases.
“When they joined (Thales), they agreed to pay Mr. Zuma those bribes … They realized they were buying influence (from Zuma),” argued Trengove.
In concluding the discussion on behalf of Thales, Roux pleaded with the entire bank to listen carefully to his client’s argument that although they were associated with Shaik’s companies, they were unaware of any dealings with Zuma.
“If there is a corrupt relationship between Shaik and Zuma… is there corruption due to organized crime, a scam or just corruption because there was a great promise of payment? Which one? “Asked Roux.
Sitting inside the high court and listening carefully to the arguments at all times, was attorney Billy Downer SC (lead attorney), the NPA’s lead prosecutor in the Zuma corruption trial who returns to court in December this year.
The full court, consisting of Judge Mahendra Chetty, Judge Antony Van Zyl and Alsa Bezuidenhout, reserved the ruling after nearly three hours of arguments.
Political Bureau
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