South African judges today dealt Jacob Zuma’s hopes of becoming the country’s next president a severe blow when they confirmed corruption convictions against his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.

The country’s Supreme Court of Appeal upheld all three counts against Mr Shaik in a ruling which stunned backers of the former deputy president. It is almost certain to lead to the state issuing new charges against Mr Zuma after previous ones were dismissed last September after a string of technical errors by the prosecution.

"We find a wealth of evidence to show that the friendship [between Shaik and Zuma], which we accept exists, was persistently and aggressively exploited by Mr Shaik for his own and his group's advantage," said the court's ruling, read out by Judge President Craig Howie.

"The only reasonable inference is that the payments were corruptly made to influence Mr Zuma to act in conflict with his constitutional duties ... all the appeals are dismissed."

New charges could stop Mr Zuma’s march towards the Presidency in its tracks and trigger even more bitter in-fighting within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) which has faced its worst-ever political crisis over the issue. Mr Zuma, a widely popular grassroots politician, maintains he is a victim of a political conspiracy and pointed the finger at close allies of President Mbeki.

A spokesman for the national prosecuting authority confirmed that the state had been awaiting the outcome of the Shaik appeal before deciding whether to reinstate charges against Mr Zuma, who earlier this year was acquitted in a separate rape trial in which he admitted having unprotected sex with an HIV positive family friend. "I do not know what the national director will decide but he will make a decision," Makhosini Nkosi told public radio

After escaping both graft and rape charges, Mr Zuma, who remained ANC deputy president, was on track to move up become ANC president next year. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC President has always automatically become the party’s candidate for the presidency which falls vacant when President Mbeki steps down at the end of his second term in 2009.

Significantly, the appeal court also upheld the 15-year jail term for fraud against Mr Schaik, himself a member of a prominent South African Indian family. Mr Schaik was found guilty last year of receiving money from French arms manufacturer, Thomson-CSF (now called Thales). Mr Zuma was fired shortly afterwards, but the allegations against him have done nothing to dent his popularity among a rank and file opposed to the government’s free market stance.

Legal experts said Mr Shaik's lawyers could try to appeal to the Constitutional Court - the highest in the land - but there might not be sufficient constitutional grounds for this.

Mr Shaik heard the news of the failure of his appeal with a heavy heart, Independent Online reported. "I can't believe it," he said. "Boom, boom, boom, one, two, three, they didn't uphold anything. All the lawyers were wrong about what was going to happen."

Mr Shaik had been scheduled to take part in a news conference after the ruling, but pulled out at the last minute. "He would rather spend this time gathering his thoughts," his brother Mo Shaik told reporters.

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