Zuma lived there. Although Shaik or one of his companies paid the rent, it was always late. She terminated the lease. Abdool Qadir Mangerah said that he was a close friend of Zuma. He loaned Zuma R154,000 (US$24,000), and when Zuma could not pay him back, Shaik did. A balance of R4,000 (US$600) was still outstanding. He said that he helped Zuma out of friendship and gave him interest-free loans just like Shaik claimed he did. All Mangerah expected in return was "prays for [his] good health." The State alleged, however, that several things were done in return. A former business associate of Shaik, Professor Themba Sono, told the court that Shaik told business partners that the Nkobi group could bring "political connectivity" to the table. Shaik said what he meant by political connectivity was Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). Professor John Lennon of Caledonian University in Glasgow told the court that Zuma advised him to use Nkobi as the South African partner for a proposed eco-tourism school. When Lennon seemed hesitant, Shaik threatened to derail the proposal and tell Zuma. A feasibility study for the project was cancelled after the government of the United Kingdom refused an application for funding. Shaik denied that he had anything to do with the sudden decline of the project. He said that his "unfortunate" correspondence with Lennon was prompted by his reaction to being "sidelined." Zuma intervened when Thomson was hesitant to take Nkobi on as its BEE partner because Mbeki allegedly told them that he had reservations about Shaik and his business ventures. Van der Walt said Zuma intervened in sorting out Nkobi's shareholding in ADS, a company strategically placed to get a multimillion-rand contract in the arms deal. Van Zyl countered that both Mbeki and Mandela were involved in attempts to negotiate a BEE settlement for ADS. When the Malaysian Renong Group wanted local partners for a Durban development, Zuma proposed Shaik's involvement. Another Absa official testified that Shaik and Zuma were considered a "package deal" when the bank invited Zuma to become a private banking client. At the end of the testimonies for the first charge, Downer pointed out they need not prove that Zuma did anything out of the ordinary to help Shaik as "you can corrupt a politician by paying him to do something he is paid to do every day." Second charge: Fraud The State proved in this