SA braces for Zuma verdict
2006-05-07 08:03
Johannesburg - A South African judge is to deliver a much-awaited verdict on Monday that could seal the downfall of former deputy president Jacob Zuma, accused of raping a young HIV-positive woman.
Once the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma has maintained that he had consensual sex with the 31-year-old woman, the daughter of a family friend, at his upmarket Johannesburg home on November 2.
But the alleged victim testified that the former number two, whom she considered a father figure, raped her in the guest room of his house, pinning her arms to the bed and forcing himself on her after she said "no" three times.
The most sensational trial of the post-apartheid era has stirred debate on such explosive issues as the battle for the presidency and Aids in a country where one in seven adults is living with HIV.
It has also trained a spotlight on sexual violence in South Africa, where a woman is raped every 26 seconds, according to People Opposing Women Abuse, a non-governmental organisation.
Highlighting the huge public interest that the three-month trial has drawn, the verdict pronounced by Judge Willem van der Merwe will be broadcast live on all major television and radio stations, beginning at 09:00.
A guilty verdict could put Zuma behind bars for up to 15 years and knock one of the most charismatic politicians out of the race for the presidency when Mbeki steps down after his final term ends in 2009.
An acquittal could revive Zuma's presidential ambitions even though his troubles are far from over. He is to go on trial again in July for corruption.
Showered after sex
"This night in question she insisted... She actually took the initiative... she encouraged me," Zuma testified in the Johannesburg High Court.
"She had never in the past come to my house dressed in a skirt," he said, adding that when she allowed her skirt to ride up her legs while she was seated, he believed that she was sending him a message.
"I realised, well, there is something she is after," he said, speaking in his native Zulu language.
Zuma testified that it would be considered an affront under Zulu tradition to deny a woman sex. "You don't just leave a woman in that situation because if you do, she may even have you arrested and say you are a rapist," he said.
Disclosing that he is HIV negative and had unprotected sex, Zuma said he showered afterwards to minimise the risk of contracting the virus, an admission that drew sharp reactions from Aids activists who accused him of setting back public efforts to combat the pandemic with his conduct.
The alleged victim, who has known Zuma since she was five years old, told the court that she was asleep when Zuma - naked - entered the guest room and began massaging her.
"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," she said.
"I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. I just couldn't do anything."
An Aids activist who described herself as a lesbian, she testified that she would have never had unprotected sex and risk spreading the virus. She said she had been pressured to drop the charges by Zuma's supporters.
Only a year ago, Zuma seemed destined to lead the nation, following in the footsteps of Mbeki and Nelson Mandela, who as leaders of the ANC, Africa's oldest liberation movement, presented impeccable credentials.
His political fortunes plummeted when Mbeki fired him from his post as deputy president after his financial adviser was convicted of corruption.
Zuma's supporters are to hold a protest outside the court in downtown Johannesburg while the judgment is being read out. Women's groups have also vowed to turn out in support of the alleged victim.