The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has received a docket from the police on rape allegations against former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Without identifying the alleged perpetrator by name, NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said on Thursday: ”We can confirm receipt of a docket from the police about rape. No decision has been taken yet on that particular matter.”
The law prohibits the NPA from naming an accused before a court appearance.
The authority now has to make a decision, based on the contents of the docket, on whether to prosecute.
Nkosi would not say what the police recommended in that regard.
”We intend finalising this matter as soon as possible. We do not want it to be drawn out unnecessarily.”
This would depend largely on the ”availability and quality” of evidence.
Once a decision has been taken, National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli or someone acting on his behalf will make an announcement, Nkosi said.
”We won’t comment any further until then. We do not want to compromise or jeopardise the police investigation, and we don’t want to infringe on the rights of the alleged victim or of the alleged perpetrator.”
Nkosi could not comment on a Beeld newspaper report that police were conducting tests on Zuma’s blood to compare it with the DNA of a semen sample taken from the underwear of his alleged rape victim.
For its part, The Star reported that staff at the police’s Pretoria forensic laboratory worked through the weekend to analyse the semen sample.
The results were ”positive”, meaning that the sample had proved to be semen. It would now have to be compared with Zuma’s DNA.
Since the Sunday Times published the rape allegation on November 13 and Beeld published the case number, police have refused to confirm whether Zuma is facing a charge.
South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news quoted unnamed police sources on Thursday as saying they have to take their personal safety into account when speaking to the media on the rape claims.
Sally de Beer, the spokesperson for the national police commissioner, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday that she could neither confirm nor deny that police were conducting tests on Zuma’s blood.
”We are not commenting on the matter,” she said.
She pointed out that all the sources in the media were unnamed, and said: ”I have no idea who’s giving this information to the media, but it’s certainly not coming out of my office.”
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said on Wednesday the party had not been able to confirm a charge against Zuma.
In a statement to ”restate” the party’s stance, the ANC said it viewed the matter in a serious light.
”These are serious allegations, that must be dealt with in terms of the law, by the appropriate institutions of the state.”
Zuma has denied the rape allegations.