Zuma acquitted of rape charges
JOHANNESBURG, Monday - Former deputy president Jacob Zuma was found not guilty on Monday of raping an HIV-positive woman in a verdict that capped South Africa’s most sensational trial since the end of apartheid.
JOHANNESBURG, Monday - Former deputy president Jacob Zuma was found not guilty on Monday of raping an HIV-positive woman in a verdict that capped South Africa’s most sensational trial since the end of apartheid.
“The accused is found not guilty,†Judge Willem van der Merwe declared in the Johannesburg high court as supporters broke out in loud cheers and ululation.
Once the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma had maintained that he had consensual sex with the 31-year-old woman, the daughter of a family friend, at his Johannesburg home in November.
“In my judgment, the state has not proved the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,†said the judge who also sided with Zuma’s version of events and said the intercourse was consensual.
Zuma rose from his seat amid the applause from his supporters in the courtroom and hugged his lawyer Kemp J Kemp.
The “not guilty†verdict pulled Zuma from the brink of political oblivion but it remained unclear whether the veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle would be able to kick-start his presidential campaign.
His troubles do not end with the acquittal. He is due to go on trial again in July for corruption in a case that led to his dismissal as deputy president last year.
In his ruling, the judge agreed with the defense’s arguments that the alleged victim was not credible and had made false rape accusaitons in the past.
He sided squarely with Zuma’s version of the events on November 2 in his Johannesburg home, finding that no rape took place.
“I find that consensual sex took place between the complainant and the accused in the main bedroom,†said Van der Merwe.
But he also had harsh words for the former number two for having sex with a woman that he knew was HIV-positive, saying it was “totally unacceptable†for a man to have unprotected sex.
Chanting “Down with Mbeki†and performing Zulu war dances, supporters of Zuma massed outside the courtroom as their hero faced a verdict in his trial for rape.
From a few hundred early in the day, the crowd grew to more than a thousand by midday outside the Johannesburg high court where there was also a heavy police presence, with armored vehicles stationed around the inner city and helicopters hovering.
The 64-year-old veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle enjoys strong grassroots support and is revered by his Zulu brethren, who maintain that he is the victim of a plot by Mbeki, an ethnic Xhosa, to knock him out of the presidential race.
On a cool sunny autumn day, the supporters vented their anger at Mbeki who fired Zumaational Congress (ANC) is due to hold a conference next year to choose Mbeki’s successor who will lead the party into elections in 2009.
“Come 2007 and the ANC conference — and Mbeki out,†read one of the placards outside the courtroom, while another said “This is not Mbeki’s party. The ANC belongs to all the masses. Come 2007, a solution.â€
Zulu chiefs dressed in traditional skins and carrying fighting sticks and shields performed a war dance in support of Zuma, while women burnt traditional incense to ward off evil spirits.
Across the road in a fenced-off area, a handful of women’s rights activists were staging a protest in support of the alleged victim, who was not present for the verdict.uiltyâ€, to underscore that only one in nine rape complaints ends with a conviction.
“We expect a ruling in line with this wall,†said Catherine Nyakato, a co-ordinator for People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a non-governmental organisation.
Thousands of Zuma supporters turned out at a fundraising concert for the politician on Sunday and the embattled politician also drew a strong following at another gathering in Durban on Saturday.
“The accused is found not guilty,†Judge Willem van der Merwe declared in the Johannesburg high court as supporters broke out in loud cheers and ululation.
Once the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma had maintained that he had consensual sex with the 31-year-old woman, the daughter of a family friend, at his Johannesburg home in November.
“In my judgment, the state has not proved the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,†said the judge who also sided with Zuma’s version of events and said the intercourse was consensual.
Zuma rose from his seat amid the applause from his supporters in the courtroom and hugged his lawyer Kemp J Kemp.
The “not guilty†verdict pulled Zuma from the brink of political oblivion but it remained unclear whether the veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle would be able to kick-start his presidential campaign.
His troubles do not end with the acquittal. He is due to go on trial again in July for corruption in a case that led to his dismissal as deputy president last year.
In his ruling, the judge agreed with the defense’s arguments that the alleged victim was not credible and had made false rape accusaitons in the past.
He sided squarely with Zuma’s version of the events on November 2 in his Johannesburg home, finding that no rape took place.
“I find that consensual sex took place between the complainant and the accused in the main bedroom,†said Van der Merwe.
But he also had harsh words for the former number two for having sex with a woman that he knew was HIV-positive, saying it was “totally unacceptable†for a man to have unprotected sex.
Chanting “Down with Mbeki†and performing Zulu war dances, supporters of Zuma massed outside the courtroom as their hero faced a verdict in his trial for rape.
From a few hundred early in the day, the crowd grew to more than a thousand by midday outside the Johannesburg high court where there was also a heavy police presence, with armored vehicles stationed around the inner city and helicopters hovering.
The 64-year-old veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle enjoys strong grassroots support and is revered by his Zulu brethren, who maintain that he is the victim of a plot by Mbeki, an ethnic Xhosa, to knock him out of the presidential race.
On a cool sunny autumn day, the supporters vented their anger at Mbeki who fired Zumaational Congress (ANC) is due to hold a conference next year to choose Mbeki’s successor who will lead the party into elections in 2009.
“Come 2007 and the ANC conference — and Mbeki out,†read one of the placards outside the courtroom, while another said “This is not Mbeki’s party. The ANC belongs to all the masses. Come 2007, a solution.â€
Zulu chiefs dressed in traditional skins and carrying fighting sticks and shields performed a war dance in support of Zuma, while women burnt traditional incense to ward off evil spirits.
Across the road in a fenced-off area, a handful of women’s rights activists were staging a protest in support of the alleged victim, who was not present for the verdict.uiltyâ€, to underscore that only one in nine rape complaints ends with a conviction.
“We expect a ruling in line with this wall,†said Catherine Nyakato, a co-ordinator for People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a non-governmental organisation.
Thousands of Zuma supporters turned out at a fundraising concert for the politician on Sunday and the embattled politician also drew a strong following at another gathering in Durban on Saturday.