Ex-deputy president rape charge divides ANC

A woman who accused former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma of rape testified that the man she had known since she was five forced himself on her despite her protests on a night she was a guest in his home.

The 31-year-old Aids activist’s testimony came at the start of one of two criminal trials that appear to have left Zuma’s political career in tatters.

Zuma still has supporters, including hundreds who chanted, sang and danced in the street yesterday and briefly scuffled with police in a demonstration reminiscent of a political rally outside the courthouse at the start of his trial.

Zuma pleaded not guilty and in a statement read by his attorney as the trial opened said his accuser spent the night willingly at his home last November and that the two had consensual sex for some time.

At no time, he said, did she say no or indicate she was having intercourse against her will.

The woman, testifying in camera yesterday afternoon, said Zuma, a man she called uncle, came into the room while she was asleep and began to massage her.

She testified that she said no, but that he did not stop, that he was naked, climbed on top of her and raped 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. At that point I faced reality. He was just about to rape me,” the woman testified.

The woman said her government minder in the witness protection programme had instructed her to tell reporters calling about her allegation that it never happened.

When reporters continued to press, she said the minder ordered her to call the journalists and threaten legal action if they continued with the story. She said the minder also dictated a text message she sent to a reporter denying the story.

President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma last June after he was implicated in a bribery scandal and charged with corruption.

The firing opened up a rift in the ANC, where Zuma still has large support in the party’s left-leaning wing. The rape charge came five months later.

Before the allegations of corruption and rape, Zuma was one of the most popular politicians in the country. He had impeccable credentials from the struggle against apartheid. Although his humble beginnings denied him a formal education, Zuma could galvanise a crowd with his speeches.

He was seen as a man of the people and a defender of the common man, the poor and the downtrodden.

When he was implicated in a bribery scandal surrounding an arms deal, Zuma’s defenders rallied behind him. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, the country’s largest labour movement, reacted to the corruption charges by declaring his succession to the presidency as “an unstoppable tsunami”.

Support has been more muted since the rape charges emerged. His trial is the most explosive case since the end of apartheid and has become a bitterly divisive issue for the ruling party.

Zuma’s still sizeable number of supporters within the party believe that both criminal charges are the result of a conspiracy by powerful interests within the party who are afraid of Zuma’s popularity.

Mandla Zungo, 43, who helped organise yesterday’s pro-Zuma demonstration, said: “There is a conspiracy against Zuma. They are afraid he will give the country back to the people if he becomes president.”

The shadowy “they” are the people inside the party who have conspired against Zuma, said Zungo.

Cele Ntokozo, 40, dismissed the rape allegations with a contemptuous wave of the hand and roll of the eyes.

“That woman (the accuser) is being used. They have used her and they have paid her to bring this charge,” said Ntokozo.

But many believe that no matter what the outcome of the trial, the rape charge is enough to end Zuma’s political career.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape in the world and women’s rights groups say statistics show only one of nine women raped in South Africa reports the crime.

Abuse of women and children has become a hot political issue. Just the accusation can spell political doom. The ANC Women’s League, which was an early supporter of Zuma, has adopted a wait-and-see attitude since he was accused of rape.

Hez Elza, a bystander watching the demonstrations, said: “He could have survived if he was found innocent of the corruption charge. But the rape charge is too much. He’ll never be able go come back now.”

Down and across the street, separated by a cordon of police with riot helmets and shields, a smaller group demonstrated and chanted in support of abused women.

Cecilie Palmer, one of the leaders of the demonstration, said: “We don’t say Jacob Zuma is guilty.

"That is for a court to decide. We are here to support all those women who have been abused. We are here to show support for women who do speak out and accuse their attacker.”