Accuser 'would've used condom'

2006-04-26 12:49

Johannesburg - Jacob Zuma's rape accuser would not have had consensual sex with him without a condom, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Wednesday.

State prosecutor Charin de Beer said the HIV-positive woman had been adamant in her testimony she would have used a condom.

Reasons given were that she could have been re-infected with the virus, pass it on to someone else, or be infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD).

On November 2 last year, when Zuma allegedly raped the woman at his Johannesburg house, De Beer said the woman did not know what his HIV status was, or if he had an STD.

Zuma says they had consensual sex.

De Beer was giving closing arguments in the trial which started last month.

Lesbian leanings

She said another reason the woman would not have had consensual sex with Zuma was because she was bisexual, but had lesbian leanings.

Before November 2, the last time the woman had had sex with a man was in July 2004 and, before that, in 1999.

De Beer said the complainant had adhered to her version of events despite lengthy cross-examination. She said the only time the woman showed discomfort was when Zuma's lawyer Kemp J Kemp had told her he had a book of hers that she was writing.

It contained some details of her past sexual experiences, including being raped when she was five-years-old.

Discrepancies in police statement

On the woman's initial statement to police about the alleged rape, De Beer said the complainant told the court that some of the things she had told police were not put into the statement, and "the language, words and grammar were not exactly hers".

Kemp questioned the woman at length about why she had omitted some details in the statement, which she testified about in court.

De Beer said if there were any discrepancies between the testimony and the statement, they were immaterial.

Zuma played supportive, advisory role

She added that the complainant would not have had sex with Zuma because she had great respect for him and often referred to him as an uncle (umalume).

"He played a supportive and advisory role," De Beer said.

Zuma had offered to find funding for the complainant so that she could study in the United Kingdom.

De Beer said Zuma invited the woman over to his house on November 2.

On the day the woman received information that a relative had been bitten by a snake in Swaziland.

Invitation to house an opportunity to have sex

The woman had made up her mind to go to Swaziland. When she phoned Zuma around 17:00 to discuss the snakebite, he convinced her to stay in Johannesburg, saying she was being too hasty.

De Beer said that at this stage Zuma did not have a plan to allegedly rape the woman, but he saw it as an opportunity to have sex with her.

She said that when the complainant arrived at Zuma's house, he made every effort to make her feel at ease as this would eliminate any resistance.

'Boyfriends are not the main thing on her brain'

She said that questions Zuma had asked the woman about boyfriends, and that she needed a companion, was an attempt by Zuma to indirectly probe towards having sex with her.

Although Zuma testified that the complainant had brought up the boyfriend conversations, De Beer said this was unlikely as she was a lesbian.

"Boyfriends are not the main thing on her brain."

De Beer said that Zuma, by ordering the woman twice to prepare for bed and then showing her the guest bedroom, and the specific bed she should sleep in, indicated that he wanted her out of sight.

She also touched on conversations the two had had that night, where Zuma said he would "tuck" the woman in.

The complainant did not read anything into this because she viewed Zuma as a father figure.

- SAPA