Accuser gives graphic details
2006-03-06 14:18
Johannesburg - The woman at the centre of the Jacob Zuma rape trial has told the Johannesburg High Court about her ordeal.
The complainant in the State v Zuma said she was already asleep when the former deputy president entered her room. (It is against the law to name a rape accuser, unless she gives consent.)
He offered to tuck her in and massage her.
She said to him: "I'm already asleep, I'll see you tomorrow."
Zuma replied that he could massage her while she was sleeping.
She again said she was sleeping.
Zuma then removed the blanket she was sleeping under.
"I was lying on my side. He started to massage my shoulders. He then held me on my shoulders and turned me around facing upwards. I then felt his knees on both sides of my legs.
'I actually thought it can't be happening'
He once again started massaging her shoulders, "and I said 'no'.
"After I said this, he didn't stop massaging me. At that point I opened my eyes and saw that he was naked."
The bedroom light was on.
"I immediately closed my eyes again and turned my head the other way."
Asked by prosecutor Charin de Beer what she was thinking at the time, the complainant responded: "I thought 'Oh, no! It can't be, he is on top of me, he is naked, I'm in his house.' I was just confused. I actually thought it can't be happening. At that point I faced reality. He was just about to rape me."
The complainant said Zuma then opened her kanga (a wrap), and pushed her legs apart with one knee.
'I told you I'd take care of you'
He then used both his hands to hold her hands down.
She went on to say that he penetrated her, first with his hand and then his penis, with both of his hands on top of hers.
The complainant said Zuma started "pushing and thrusting".
Zuma then said to her: "I told you I'd take care of you. He said "sweetheart". He then said "You are a real girl".
At some point Zuma "pecked" her on the lips and cheek.
"He started thrusting harder and harder and asked if he should ejaculate inside of me. He pushed and thrusted harder and when he was done, he got up and left."
Zuma did not use a condom
The complainant said at first she lay on the bed, and did nothing. Eventually she gathered her strength, found her kanga and drew it over her.
"I then took my hand and put it on top of my vagina and that is when I felt his semen and that he had ejaculated."
She said Zuma had not used a condom.
Earlier, Zuma, 63, had pleaded not guilty to raping her at his Johannesburg home on November 2 last year.
The small number of supporters and reporters allowed to attend the in camera hearing watched her closely as she was led into the court by a policeman.
The trial continues.
- SAPA