Deputy President Jacob Zuma’s legal adviser Linda Makathini saw only a copy of a loan agreement between Zuma and Schabir Shaik, the Durban High Court heard on Monday.
Makathini said when she joined Zuma’s office in October 1999, she was asked to sort out a load of documents stored in briefcases and boxes.
She was told to file African National Congress and personal documents separately.
This was when she came across a copy of the revolving loan agreement of R2-million, which was signed in May 1999. However, she did not see the original, Makathini testified.
Shaik is accused of fraud and corruption related to South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal.
The state claims that attempts by Shaik to get a donation for the trust fund from French arms company Thomson CSF were nothing but a cover for bribe money.
It alleges that Shaik solicited R500 000 a year for Zuma from Thomson, and that meetings that were allegedly for education donations were really about the bribe.
Since the start of the trial, the state has been trying to locate the original loan document.
Last week, Zuma’s personal lawyer Julie Mahommed said she had taken the original but believed that her office could have sent it to Zuma by mistake.
On Monday, Makathini said she had been contacted by Shaik’s attorney Reeves Parsee and Mahommed, who were both looking for the original, but no one seemed to know where it was.
Makathini was also responsible for making declarations on behalf of Zuma to Parliament. She said Zuma only declared his loan agreement with Shaik as a liability — and not the benefit — on her advice.
Makathini is also a trustee of the Jacob Zuma Education Trust Fund, and told the court about the difficulties experienced because of the high number of applicants for scholarships.
Before the start of proceedings on Monday, defence advocate Francois van Zyl put on record an apology by Shaik to members of the prosecution after Shaik had lost his temper and called advocate Anton Steynberg a ”racist” and told him: ”I will sort you out after the trial.”
Prosecutor Billy Downer then completed his cross-examination of Thomson CSF boss Pierre Moynot.
Moynot told the court how they wanted to withdraw shares in African Defence Systems (ADS) from Shaik’s Nkobi Holdings after ”someone” told him that Shaik was not an acceptable black economic empowerment partner and that he was disliked by former president Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki.
He said later the rumours proved to be false and Nkobi got the shares in ADS through the Thomson headquarters in Paris.
Thomson and Nkobi won the government’s naval corvette contract through the shareholding in ADS. — Sapa