Schabir Shaik

Schabir Shaik is a South African businessman from the Berea, Durban, who rose to prominence due to his close association with South African President Jacob Zuma during his time as Deputy President. On 2 June 2005, he was found guilty of corruption and fraud, which also led to the dismissal of Zuma two weeks later from his position as Deputy President.

Early life

A South African of Indian origin, Shaik studied electrical engineering at the M.L. Sultan Technikon, but was caught cheating in a High Voltage Engineering T5 exam on 28 May 1990 and was barred for 12 months. He claimed to have obtained a master's degree, but no record of this was found at the Technikon; he later admitted he did not earn the qualification.

He had a long-standing friendship with Jacob Zuma, who needed assistance with his finances after returning from political exile in Mozambique in 1990. Zuma had been elected Chairperson of the African National Congress, and Shaik assisted him financially, mostly in the form of interest-free loans with no date of repayment.

On 27 February 1995, Shabir Shaik established a company known as Nkobi Holdings, using the family name of the late ANC Treasurer Thomas Nkobi, without consent and approval of the Nkobi family.

Nkobi Holding was initially wholly owned by Shaik. The shareholding went through various permutations subsequently, however Shaik was at all relevant times a director of, and exercised effective control over, all the corporate entities within the Nkobi...
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