State scorns Zuma 'plot'
2006-03-28 16:19
Johannesburg - If the rape allegation against Jacob Zuma was part of a political conspiracy against him, it was poorly planned, the State prosecutor in his trial told the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday.
"If there was a political conspiracy, it wasn't the most well-planned conspiracy," said Herman Broodryk.
"One would have expected her (the complainant) to storm out of the house and lay this complaint with blood flowing all over her face and several bruises and a terrible story to tell."
"She did not even have a real injury," Broodryk told the court.
He questioned where a person could be found to carry out such a conspiracy then spend five days in a witness box facing cross-examination.
Zuma's legal team had not raised the possibility of a political conspiracy as a fact, but just raised it and then "kept their options open", Broodryk noted.
Last year, Zuma was dismissed as deputy president when corruption charges were brought against him. The rape charge followed.
He and his supporters have claimed a political conspiracy to stop him from becoming the next president of South Africa.
Broodryk was opposing a defence application for Zuma's discharge under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Zuma's lawyers argue that the State has not proved the woman was raped.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
- SAPA