Zuma: She had needs

2006-04-04 22:55

Johannesburg - Jacob Zuma believed the woman who accused him of rape was sending him sexual signals, Johannesburg High Court heard on Tuesday.

And, he added, he had no problem having sexual intercourse with her, bearing in mind that she "had needs".

Zuma said the woman had never visited him wearing a skirt before. On the night of the alleged rape, she had arrived wearing a knee-length skirt.

"She had never in the past come to my house dressed in a skirt. Including times when I was living in Pretoria.

"When she came to me in a skirt after those talks I referred to earlier on, well, it told me something," he said.

The former deputy president appeared relaxed for his second day in the witness stand and testified in Zulu again, smiling or laughing at times at questions put to him by prosecutor Charin de Beer.

Didn't sit 'properly'

While sitting in a lounge watching television, she did not sit properly in her skirt, Zuma said.

"Under normal circumstances, if a woman is dressed in a skirt, she will sit properly with her legs together.

"But she would cross her legs and wouldn't even mind if the skirt was raised very much."

De Beer then asked Zuma what he thought she was up to.

He replied: "I realised, well, there is something she is after, because of these things.

"Maybe she is trying to send a certain message to me by these actions."

De Beer asked what type of message he got.

"Maybe, because she is lonely, she is of the opinion I may also help her in this regard."

He believed the signs were there that she wanted to have sex with him.

She had sent him 54 SMSs

Zuma also testified that in 54 SMSs the woman sent him in the two months before the alleged rape, she had ended the messages affectionately with "hugs", "kisses" and "love".

She had also told him she was missing him.

"She never used to end (them) in those words. Once she introduced those words, sexual connotations were also introduced in conversations," he told the court.

He said twice the two had conversations of a sexual nature when she complained she did not have a boyfriend and Zuma had offered to comfort her.

The woman initiated these talks, Zuma said.

The fact that the woman went to him in his study dressed only in a kanga "indicated something to me".

The 31-year-old HIV-positive woman alleges Zuma raped her in the guest bedroom of his Johannesburg home on November 2 last year. He says they had consensual sex in his bedroom.

He said that in the course of the evening she told him she needed to talk to him about something and that he must wake her up even if she was asleep.

Wanted to confirm his suspicions

After he had finished working on paperwork related to his corruption trial set down for later this year, he went to the guest bedroom and summoned her to his bedroom so that they could talk.

"I wanted to see if she would come so I could see whether or not my suspicions were true or not.

"I said to myself: is this what she meant or did she mean something else?

Zuma told the court he believed he had a "minimal" chance of contracting HIV/Aids from her by not using a condom and, at the time, was certain that he was no risk to her.

He said he knew there was some risk but believed it was small, from knowledge he had gained while serving as chair of the Aids Council.

Knew he was HIV-negative

"Negative" was his answer when asked for his own HIV status. He said his last test was a month ago.

He said he did not tell the woman his HIV-status, but he thought she knew he was HIV-negative.

"I don't see any reason why she would think I'm HIV-positive."

He said as far as he was concerned he definitely knew he was HIV-negative on the night of the alleged rape as he had been tested previously.

Zuma said he usually made "preparations" and took precautions ahead of planned sexual intercourse.

De Beer put it to Zuma that his not using a condom was an indication of rape. The woman had testified earlier she would never have had consensual sex without a condom.

Denied he asked her to stay

"That is not true. She consented. She actually took the initiative, when she got into that bed she encouraged me."

Zuma denied he invited the woman to his house on the day of the alleged rape and denied that he asked her to stay over.

De Beer drew on earlier use of cultural context to suggest it was inappropriate for her to have slept in the guest room instead of with Zuma's daughter in her room.

She said that he had done this so that she could be alone.

Zuma denied this, saying this norm only applied when a guest room was not available.

Didn't offer to tuck her in

De Beer said Zuma's offer to tuck the woman in that night was an indication that he was getting desperate, because during the evening she was not responding in the way he had hoped she would.

"No, that's not true," Zuma replied.

Zuma also said he did not offer to tuck the woman in, as she has testified.

When the trial was adjourned for the day Zuma was greeted by ululations and foot-stomping by a group of women as he moved down the court corridor.

But, outside court, the usual crowd of supporters had dwindled significantly.

The trial continues.

- SAPA