Durban

A tank containing a cleaning solvent caught fire and exploded at a Durban oil refinery on Tuesday night. Managing director of the Engen refinery, Wayne Hartmann, said he had no idea what sparked the fire at 8.45pm, but said it was extinguished quickly by metro fire personnel who responded instantly to their call.

Dale McDermott, the former Springbok technical analyst whose video evidence of Springbok players being abused and humiliated at Kamp Staaldraad shocked the rugby world, was found dead on Sunday at his Durban home. No foul play is suspected. Springbok coach Jake White said on Monday night that he was ”shattered” to hear of the death.

Two ABSA bank employees closely involved with the Jacob Zuma Education Trust Fund told the Durban High Court on Friday that the trust had applied for funding from the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund but was told it did not qualify. However, Mandela allegedly endorsed a cheque of R2-million for Zuma.

Former head of the Heath Investigating Unit Judge Willem Heath said his unit would have come to a very different conclusion than the three agencies the government eventually tasked with investigating arms deal irregularities. Speaking after his testimony in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial, Heath said: ”There was a deliberate attempt by government to keep us out of the investigation.”

The Durban High Court heard on Wednesday how money borrowed by Deputy President Jacob Zuma in his personal capacity was allegedly used to cover ANC expenses. The court also heard how, four years after loaning R100 000 to Zuma, Durban businessman Abdool Mangerah was still trying to recover his money.

The former head of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), Gavin Woods, on Monday told the Durban High Court that the Defence Department’s former chief procurement officer, Chippy Shaik, lied to his committee.

The auditor who confronted Thomson-CSF boss Alain Thetard about his role in allegedly procuring a bribe for Deputy-President Jacob Zuma testified in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial on Monday. Gary Parker, the audit partner for Thomson-CSF in South Africa, said he and his audit manager David Green met Thetard after allegations of bribery by a former secretary, Susan Delique.

If your head has spun from the spin at the trial of the century, don’t despair. Sam Sole offers a guide to the key issues and the state of play so far. Seven weeks on and the Schabir Shaik trial is shaping up to be a titanic and tantalising legal battle — as is the public relations war being fought in the media. Shaik is facing three main charges relating to corruption and fraud.

Fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik did not pay any personal income tax because his company had made a taxable loss, the Durban High Court heard on Wednesday. Ahmed Paruk, from auditing firm David Strachan and Taylor, said the decision was made by his audit partner Paul Gearing and accepted by both him and Shaik.

There was no policy for the foreign acquisition of arms when the government embarked on the multi-billion rand arms acquisition process, the Durban High Court heard on Tuesday. State witness David Griesel said this while testifying in the fraud and corruption trial of Schabir Shaik.

Although considered a high risk, Deputy President Jacob Zuma was accepted as an Absa client because of his position, the Durban High Court heard on Thursday. Durban businessman Schabir Shaik was also considered to be a high risk and was accepted as a client because of his relationship with Zuma and because he would approve all Zuma’s investments as his adviser, Absa private bank’s John Dwyer testified.

Defence advocate Francois van Zyl has questioned the independence of a forensic audit report presented to the court by state witness Johan van der Walt in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in Durban. Van der Walt’s lengthy report was commissioned by the Scorpions and details the accounts of Shaik and his Nkobi group of companies as well as the finances of Deputy President Jacob Zuma.