Zuma
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP):
SOUTH AFRICA'S popular former deputy president, already facing corruption charges, was indicted for rape yesterday in a case that could destroy his chances of taking the helm of a country seen as a political and economic model across the continent.
Jacob Zuma, who was dismissed from government but remains No. 2 of the governing African National Congress, declared his innocence but said he was voluntarily withdrawing from his party's leadership structures for the duration of the trial.
Zuma was formally indicted at a special early morning session in Johannesburg Magistrate's Court and was released on 20,000 rands (US$3,075; euro2,560) bail, the National Prosecuting Authority said. Trial was set for February 13.
Zuma is accused of assaulting a 31-year-old family friend at his residence on November 2 after she declined his offer of a massage, according to the charge sheet. The alleged victim's identity was not disclosed.
"I wish to state clearly that I am innocent of these charges," Zuma said in a statement after the brief appearance. "I regard these allegations against me very seriously as I abhor any form of abuse against women."
President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma in June after he was implicated in a bribery scandal involving his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, and French arms dealers. The dismissal opened a rift within the ANC, where Zuma retains huge support among left-leaning members as well as the party's trade union and South African Communist Party allies.
Zuma's supporters maintain the corruption charges are part of a smear campaign intended to destroy the political career of the man once considered most likely to succeed Mbeki when he completes his second and final term in 2009.
The rape charge is more damaging politically in a country confronting high levels of abuse against women and children, and analysts said Zuma was unlikely to recover.
"That race is over," said John Stremlau, an international relations expert at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. "At the end of the day, no one is above the law."
Some supporters have already started distancing themselves from Zuma since the rape allegations surfaced in local newspapers last month.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions and South African Communist Party, who have been vocal supporters of Zuma, issued muted statements Tuesday calling for a speedy trial but did not comment on the merits of the case.
The ANC Women's League, which has also been supportive of Zuma in the past, said it was its duty to point out: "... irrespective of the nature of a relationship, a no from a woman means no."
Zuma said the intense media speculation that preceded the indictment had prejudiced his chance of a fair trial.
He said he had informed ANC Secretary-General Kgalema Motlanthe that he would temporarily withdraw from leadership meetings due to the severity of the charge. But he said this would not affect his title of party deputy president.
The ANC, which has governed since apartheid's end in 1994, said Zuma should be presumed innocent unless convicted in court. Party spokesman Smuts Ngonyama declined further comment, saying leaders were meeting Tuesday night to prepare a full response.
Zuma, 63, is a former anti-apartheid fighter with no formal education.
The judge who sentenced Shaik to 15 years in prison concluded he had a "generally corrupt" relationship with his client and friend, Zuma.
He found that Shaik made payments to Zuma totalling some 1.2 million rands (US$185,000; euro151,000) to fund a lavish lifestyle. He also said Zuma was aware of Shaik's efforts to facilitate a yearly payment of 500,000 rand (US$77,000; euro63,000) to the ex-deputy president from Thint Holdings _ formerly Thomson CSF _ to deflect corruption investigations into a 1999 weapons deal with the South African government.
Shaik is appealing his conviction.
The South African National Editors Forum protested what it called the secrecy of Zuma's court hearing Tuesday, which contrasted with the glare of publicity surrounding earlier appearances in Durban.
"He was brought into the court before opening hours, through a side door generally used by prisoners and after the area around the court was cleared by police and his bodyguards," the group said in a statement, adding it "believes that justice needs to be seen to be done in all cases of alleged criminal activity."
