With purple ribbons, T-shirt and bumper sticker sales, street cordons, loud music and singing, the next leg of the Jacob Zuma rape trial will start on Monday.
”Yes, we are ready to go,” said Makhosini Nkosi, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority.
At Zuma’s last appearance, his legal team told the court that it would be ready to proceed on Monday.
Zuma is alleged to have raped a family friend at his home in Forest Town, Johannesburg, on November 2, after she refused his offer of a massage. At the time Zuma was awaiting trial on corruption charges, to be heard in Durban later this year.
The city’s police will again cordon off the surrounding streets to keep at bay supporters and enthralled passersby gathering in Pritchard Street.
The entrance to the court building will be strictly controlled with court space by pre-arranged accreditation and a few seats reserved for the public.
The Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust intends gathering again to support Zuma and to sell T-shirts and bumper stickers to raise money for his legal fees.
Zuma lost his job as deputy president after he was charged with corruption. He has been suspended in all but name as the deputy president of the African National Congress.
Drowned out by the thousands of Zuma supporters at the start of the trial, the people in support of the alleged rape victim, are encouraging her supporters to wear a purple ribbon as they launch the ”One in Nine” campaign.
The name is taken from research conducted by the Medical Research Council that found that only one in nine cases of rape are reported in South Africa.
”Survivors of sexual violence still face victim-blaming, secondary victimisation and social stigma when they speak out about the violence they have experienced,” they said in a statement ahead of the launch.
City Press reported on Sunday that the house of the woman at the centre of the trial was looted last Monday by four men. The security guard assigned to protect the house was forced to strip naked and was beaten. The robbers kicked down the door, stole clothes and dropped off the guard in Isipingo, south of Durban.
At the start of the trial, the woman was booed as she entered the court building, her head covered, and under the protection of a bodyguard. She remained in the building for the day, but was not seen in court.
The One in Nine campaign’s launch at the nearby Methodist Church on Monday morning will follow a night vigil from 7.30pm on Sunday in support of the woman, who they have named ”Khwezi”, and other rape survivors.
”Supporting survivors is essential to ensure that they are able to speak out in safety, and to decrease the impact of secondary victimisation and victim-blaming they are likely to experience when they do speak out,” said the One in Nine supporters.
The song Msholozi, which pledges support for Zuma, is expected to echo off the inner city buildings again, as is the controversial song Lethu Mshini Wami, which was sang repeatedly to him while he was campaigning for last week’s election.
Both Zuma and supporters of the alleged rape victim have started websites.
The trial has already had two false starts in a tussle over the court’s top three judges.
Judge Bernard Ngoepe acceded to a request for his own recusal, amidst claims of a perception of bias, and two others — Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo and Deputy Judge President Jeremiah Shongwe, who heads the Pretoria High Court, had personal links to Zuma.
When proceedings resume on Monday Judge Willem van der Merwe will preside.
He sentenced apartheid assassin Eugene De Kock — known to his colleagues as ”Prime Evil” — to two life terms and 212 years in jail on 89 charges, ranging from murder and conspiracy to fraud, illegal arms possession and defeating the ends of justice. – Sapa