Judgement started in axed deputy president Jacob Zuma’s rape trial in the Johannesburg High Court at 9am on Monday.
Judge Willem van der Merwe, who has presided over the trial since it started on March 6, will reportedly take about six hours to deliver his judgement.
Before starting to read his judgement, he made a few remarks in isiZulu and said he would speak in English as Zuma understands English very well.
Zuma (64) is accused of raping a 31-year-old HIV-positive woman in the guest bedroom of his Johannesburg home on November 2 last year. Zuma says the two had consensual sex in his bedroom.
Van der Merwe told the court his verdict will not satisfy everybody and thanked those attending the trial for the courtesy they have shown him.
‘Who are you crucifying?’
Hundreds of people, some wrapped in blankets against the cold weather, were gathered outside the court as a helicopter hovered overhead, the Mail & Guardian Online’s Tisha Eetgerink reports.
People were trying to get a glimpse of the court by climbing on to garbage containers. Those right in front of the court were dressed in traditional Zulu clothing and singing loudly ”Zuma not guilty”. One held up a wooden crucifix bearing a picture of Zuma with the words ”Why are you crucifying Zuma?”.
Vusi Dhoma, wearing a pro-Zuma T-shirt, said: ”We don’t believe the woman. He is not guilty. Zuma is our leader and we will always support him.”
According to police on the scene, there were busloads of Zuma supporters on the way from all over the country.
Zuma’s supporters jeered as police disapproved of one of them taking his protest to the terrace of a building overlooking Kruis Street. The protester, dressed in an orange overall similar to those worn by prisoners, wore chains and carried a poster reading ”Deputy president Jacob Zuma, you are found not guilty and discharged”.
Anti-rape activists gathered at a ”wall of shame” they erected outside the court and began singing and protesting shortly after 9am.
Displayed among their posters was a kanga, which Zuma’s accuser was believed to have worn on the night of the alleged rape. A poster nearby it read: ”This kanga is not an invitation [to sex]”.
About 20 women sang a song in Zulu that, translated, said their sexual organs were their own property.
‘It gives me strength’
Far from avoiding publicity, Zuma convened rallies in his home town, Durban, on Saturday and Johannesburg on Sunday. He held hands with ministers praying for his acquittal and danced to Zulu songs singing his praises. He told the crowds he was not able to comment on the case, but expressed gratitude for their support. ”It gives me the strength to go on,” he said.
During the trial he said his accuser, an HIV-positive Aids activist, had signalled she was willing to have sex by wearing a knee-length skirt and sitting without crossed legs. He said he reduced his risk of infection by taking a shower after intercourse.
The accuser, who cannot be named under South African law, was grilled over her sexual history. She said she had been previously raped at the ages of five, 13 and 14.
Several men testified that she had falsely accused them of rape. Outside the court 3 000 of Zuma’s supporters set fire to her portrait, shouting ”Burn the bitch,” and angrily threatened her.
The case is thought to have damaged South Africa’s efforts to prevent rape and reduce the spread of Aids, both of which are among the world’s highest.
Zuma has retained undeniable popularity, particularly among the least educated and unemployed, but his support from the trade unions has weakened. The verdict will largely determine whether he can pursue his ambition to succeed Thabo Mbeki as president in 2009.
If acquitted, his supporters are already pressing for him to be reinstated as the ANC’s deputy president. Mbeki sacked Zuma as the country’s deputy president in July last year when he faced charges of corruption. After being charged with rape in November, Zuma stepped down from any active role in the ANC.
His accuser has a difficult future. Whatever the verdict, she faces the prospect of violent reprisals and is expected to leave the country for her own safety.
Political analyst Judith February said the case has great significance for South Africa.
”This is not just about whether or not Jacob Zuma is guilty of rape. It is about what calibre of leadership we want.
”Do we want leadership in the battle against Aids and the fight against rape and violence against women? Do we want to uphold the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution? Will women feel free to press charges of rape when this woman has been burned in effigy, stoned and must leave the country? ”This trial raises these very uncomfortable questions.” – Sapa, staff reporter, Guardian Unlimited Â