The claim that Jacob Zuma confessed to having had consensual sex with a woman he is alleged to have raped was ”manufactured” by the Mail & Guardian newspaper and the journalist who wrote the story, Zuma said in a statement on Monday.
He said that the Mail & Guardian and the journalist have acted irresponsibly and unethically.
Zuma said that an article in the Mail & Guardian newspaper had inaccurately reported that he made the confession to trade unionists at his home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal.
”Mail & Guardian has crossed the line. They printed a manufactured article, probably done so by their journalist or by their impeccable and typically anonymous sources,” said Zuma.
”The newspaper and journalist were also irresponsible and acted unethically by not contacting me for comment on the issue.”
The Mail & Guardian reported that Zuma made the confession to Congress of SA Trade Union (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelenzima Vavi and president Willie Madisha and to SA Communist Party (SACP) leader Blade Nzimande.
But Zuma said: ”Alliance leaders Vavi, Madisha and Nzimande did not visit me at Nkandla on the previous Sunday as the Friday weekly had implied.
”Two of the three men had never been to my homestead and I certainly did not make any confessions to these or any other leaders in this regard.”
Both the SACP and Cosatu have also vociferously denied the Mail & Guardian report.
The Mail & Guardian’s report was, according to the SACP, ”a big lie”, while Cosatu called it a ”downright lie”.
The federation alleged that the newspaper had ”created” the story to boost sales while the party said the media in general was playing ”cheap, factional and divisive” politics in the Alliance. Their statements were distributed widely.
Zuma’s lawyer, Michael Hulley, said his client would take the matter further. Zuma was charged last week with raping a 31-year-old HIV-positive woman at his home in Johannesburg.
His trial will start on February 13.
Last week on Friday, the Mail & Guardian again defended its story in an article from the editor entitled ”All sound, no fury”.
Editor Ferial Haffajee wrote, ”Faced with such serious accusations from organisations [SACP and Cosatu] we view as vital in South Africa, I made no fewer than 15 attempts to secure meetings or even telephonic discussions with the SACP and Cosatu leaders to discuss the serious allegations levelled against us.”
”Other than vacuous discussions with junior spokesmen, there were no meetings or discussions to follow up the statements.”
When Cosatu and the SACP issued denials after the report was first published in early December, Haffajee responded at the time: ”We’ve gone back to our sources, who confirmed the story. We believe that in these trying times the Cosatu statement is part of the damage-control exercise.
”The M&G has no reason to fabricate or sensationalise,” she said.
Haffajee has said repeatedly that the newspaper stands by its story.
Zuma, who has also been indicted on corruption charges, believes there is a conspiracy against him. He has received support from Cosatu on the corruption charges, but the union body has adopted a wait-and-see approach to the rape complaint. ‒ Sapa, own correspondent