JOHANNESBURG, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - South African former deputy president Jacob Zuma was found "not guilty" on Monday of raping an HIV-positive woman but faced a stern rebuke from the judge for having unprotected sex.
Zuma, a top presidential contender and former head of the national AIDS council, maintained that he had consensual sex with the 31-year-old woman at his Johannesburg home in November and that he did not use a condom even though he knew she was HIV positive.
"It is inexcusable that the accused did so," said Judge Willem van der Merwe as he wrapped up his six-hour judgment in the trial, the most sensational of the post-apartheid era.
"It is totally unacceptable that a man should have unprotected sex with a person other than his regular partner and definitely not with a person who, to his knowledge, is HIV positive," he said.
The harsh words from the judge were in line with the criticism that AIDS activists had directed at the former number two, who was one of the government's leading officials on AIDS policy.
During the trial, Zuma had testified that he had a shower after having sex with the woman to minimize the risk of contracting HIV, an admission that stunned AIDS activists in a country where 6.5 million people are estimated to be living with HIV.
"I do not even want to comment on the effect of a shower after having had unprotected sex," said the judge after admonishing Zuma.
"Had Rudyard Kipling known of this case at the time he wrote his poem 'If', he might have added the following: 'And if you can control your body and your sexual urges, then you are a man, my son'," concluded the judge.
Testifying that he is HIV negative, the 64-year-old politician told the court that he discussed using a condom with the woman.
"I asked her: 'Do you have a condom?' She did not have it. I said: 'me, I don't have a condom'," said Zuma in testimony last month.
"I hesitated a bit... (but) she said: 'You cannot just leave a woman if she is already in that position'," he told the court.
The woman had testified that as an AIDS activist, she would have never had unprotected sex and risk exposing a partner to the virus.
Under Zuma's leadership, the National AIDS Council had developed its ABC campaign to promote Abstinence, Being faithful and Condom use as part of efforts to combat HIV, affecting one in seven adults in South Africa.
On the eve of the verdict, a student association called on Zuma to apologize to the nation for not using a condom and on the governing African National Congress (ANC) to make clear its disapproval of his high-risk sexual behaviour.
"Zuma should apologize to the nation for what happened on the night in question, for being unfaithful and for not wearing a condom," said Tembile Yeko, secretary general of the South African Students' Congress.
060508
AF060514
Copyright ©AFP 2006. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2006 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
