/ 5 April 2006

Zuma repeats belief that accuser wanted sex

Jacob Zuma has repeated that he believed the woman who accused him of rape wanted to have sexual intercourse with him.

He told the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday that the woman followed him to his bedroom and then sat on his bed, which indicated to him her intentions were to have intercourse.

”I said to myself there must be something she is up to,” he said.

Zuma is facing his second day of cross-examination.

On Tuesday he told the court the woman had sent him a number of signals that she wanted to have sex.

The 31-year-old HIV-positive woman alleges he raped her in the guest bedroom of his Johannesburg house on November 2 last year.

He said they had consensual sex in his bedroom. On Wednesday Zuma denied the woman’s earlier testimony that he had initially gone to her bedroom, found that she was awake and told her he had visitors to attend to.

Prosecutor Charin de Beer put it to Zuma he had done this because he wanted to check if the woman was asleep so that he could rape her.

He had also done this because she had been ignoring his advances throughout the night.

”That is not true,” Zuma said.

The woman testified Zuma went to her bedroom again and when she was asleep, raped her.

However Zuma said he woke her up and asked her to go to his bedroom as she had told him several times she wanted to discuss something with him, and he should wake her up if necessary.

De Beer asked Zuma why he had not sat on the bed in her room and asked her to tell him what she wanted to discuss. He replied that he was not used to holding discussions with guests in the guest room. – Sapa