How the Zuma saga ran...

2006-05-07 19:42

Johannesburg - South African former deputy president Jacob Zuma is to hear judgment on Monday on the charge that he raped a young HIV-positive woman at his Johannesburg home six months ago.

The verdict could seal his political downfall after his dismissal as deputy president in June last year amid allegations of corruption. He is due to go on trial in that case in July.

If convicted, Zuma could face between five to 15 years in jail.

Here is a timeline of the Zuma affair:

2005

June 2: Zuma's financial adviser Schabir Shaik is convicted of fraud and corruption relating to $200 000 (about R1.2m) in payments made to Zuma to help secure business deals. He is also found guilty of negotiating a bribe for Zuma with the French arms firm Thint.

Judge Hilary Squires says there is "overwhelming" evidence of a "corrupt relationship" between him and Zuma;

June 3: Zuma reacts to the judgment: "My conscience is clear because I have not committed any crime";

June 8: Shaik is sentenced to 15 years in prison. His lawyer immediately moves to appeal;

June 14: President Thabo Mbeki fires Zuma from his post as deputy president, saying the ruling in the Shaik case "raised questions of conduct" and that Zuma's dismissal was in the best interest of the country;

June 29: Zuma makes a brief first court appearance in Durban to answer corruption charges including one of accepting a bribe to use his influence to stop an investigation into a 1999 arms deal to buy aircraft, ships and submarines. He is released on bail and does not enter a plea as the State completes work on the charge sheet;

July 1: Delegates at a national gathering of the African National Congress decide to keep Zuma on as the party's deputy leader, defying Mbeki and laying bare a crisis of unity gripping the governing party and Africa's oldest liberation movement;

August 18: Prosecutors raid Zuma's Johannesburg house, his traditional homestead in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the offices of his attorneys as they build their corruption case against the ex-No 2;

September 10: As tensions threaten the ANC, Mbeki and Zuma issue a joint statement seen as political truce, declaring that they "reject the notion that individuals should be required to choose sides";

October 11: Zuma makes another brief court appearance in Durban as hundreds of supporters burn T-shirts bearing a picture of Mbeki during an all-night vigil;

November 12: Zuma makes another court appearance in Durban and is formally served with an indictment on two counts of corruption. The trial is set to begin on July 31;

November 13: A Sunday newspaper reports that a woman has filed a police complaint alleging that Zuma raped her at his home.

December 6: Zuma is formally charged with raping a 31-year-old, HIV-positive woman, the daughter of an old family friend, at his Johannesburg home on November 2;

December 7: The ANC decides to bar Zuma from acting or speaking as the party's deputy leader, although he retains the title of the party's No 2. <>

2006

February 13: Zuma goes on trial for rape. His lawyers ask presiding Judge Bernard Ngoepe to recuse himself, alleging bias because he had issued warrants in the separate Zuma corruption case. Ngoepe agrees to step down;

February 15: a Durban court rules that documents seized at Zuma's house and those of his attorneys in connection with the corruption case must be returned, declaring the search warrants "unlawful";

March 2: Judge Willem van der Merwe appointed to try the Zuma rape trial;

March 6: Zuma pleads not guilty to rape, claiming he had consensual sex with the complainant;

March 29: Judge rejects defence's move for early dismissal on the grounds that the State presented insufficient evidence. Trial continues;

April 3: Zuma takes the stand for the first time in his own defence and testifies in Zulu how he had unsafe, but consensual, sex with the alleged victim;

April 26: The State and defence lawyers start final arguments; and

May 2: the judge sets May 8 as date to render verdict.

- AFP