CV of a spy

Name: Rieaz Shaik aka Moe Shaik (nickname from 'The Three Stooges').

Spot in the Shaik dynasty: Second youngest of six brothers.

Spouse: Erin, a Canadian who worked for the UN.

Education: Masters in optometry from the University of Durban-Westville (1993). He lectured at the university from 1989 to 1993.

Struggle cred: Part of the ANC underground intelligence since 1981 (working closely with Jacob Zuma), Moe, together with his brother Younis, was detained by security police and held in solitary confinement for nine months.

Intelligence experience: from 1981 onwards, Moe was an operative in various ANC spy operations including the dangerous Operation Vula (infiltrating government defence systems) and Project Bible (aimed at combating government infiltration of the liberation movement).

In 1990 when the ANC returned from exile, Moe was put in charge of their security. In 1994 he was part of the Transitional Executive Council team that created the new intelligence structure. He served as the Head of Ministerial Services to the Ministry of Intelligence Services and in 1997 was appointed Deputy Coordinator of Intelligence Services.

Other government positions: In 1998, Shaik was appointed the South African Consul-General in Hamburg. He later became the South African Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Algeria. From 2003 to 2004, Shaik was the Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma) and Head of the Policy Research and Analysis Unit.

When his brother Schabir was found guilty, Moe Shaik left government to head up Nkobi Holdings, a company founded by Schabir.

Controversy: Moe Shaik, together with Mac Maharaj, publicly alleged that then-NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy with the codename R5452. He claimed that the allegation was based on information he gathered when he headed up Project Bible.

Then-president Thabo Mbeki ordered a commission, headed by Judge Hefer, to examine the legitimacy of the claims. The Hefer Commission cleared Ngcuka of the allegations and both Shaik and Maharaj admitted that they could not prove that he was, in fact, an apartheid spy. Ngcuka's case was strengthened when another agent owned up to being R5452.

There have been suggestions that Moe Shaik was also linked to the spy tapes which resulted in the case against Jacob Zuma being dropped. The fact that Moe Shaik announced that the case would be dropped the day before the NPA made public its decision, raised further suspicions of involvement.