Zuma: Decision time
2005-11-24 22:38
Johannesburg - Jacob Zuma's fate is in the hands of national director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli for the second time this year.
Police have completed the provisional docket on the rape allegations against the former South African deputy president and handed it to Pikoli.
Pikoli is also the chief of the Scorpions, who have been investigating Zuma's involvement in the government's arms deal since 1999.
The handing-over of the docket means that Pikoli - as he did in June this year when he decided to prosecute Zuma for corruption - will have to decide whether the State has prima facie evidence to charge Zuma with rape and to win its case.
Pikoli, in consultation with Charin de Beer, the Witwatersrand director of public prosecutions, will have to make a decision soon, based on the docket's contents.
The State's evidence includes:
a sworn statement by the alleged victim;
statements by people to whom she reported the case;
statements by Zuma family members who were in his home at the time of the alleged incident;
medical statements, and
the results of the DNA tests done on underwear and samples of the complainant, and compared to the results of DNA tests on Zuma's blood sample.
NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi didn't want to comment on the results of the DNA tests on Thursday.
The fact that Zuma had been asked to provide a blood sample was an indication that bodily fluids found in the complaintant's samples were not hers.
A source close to Zuma confirmed the politician had voluntarily supplied police with a blood sample.
Police completed their investigation into the rape allegations against the African National Congress deputy president in record time.
Forensic laboratory commander Pierre Joubert earlier said it normally took three months to complete a forensic investigation.
But, it has taken less than three weeks for police to investigate the rape charge against Zuma after it had been laid on November 4 at Hillbrow police station.
Flew to see daughter
The complainant, a 31-year-old HIV-positive family friend of Zuma's, initially considered withdrawing the charge, but apparently was persuaded by friends to see it through.
Often supported the woman's family
This came after KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Zweli Mkhize, a Zuma confidante, paid for the complainant's mother to fly to Johannesburg to see her daughter.
Beeld's sources said the aim of the visit was to get her daughter to withdraw the charge.
Mkhize denied this, saying he had known the woman's family for a long time and supported them when they needed help.
Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions refused on Thursday to support the ANC's view that there was no political plot against Zuma.