S. African Ex-Official Hears Accuser at Rape Trial

HIV-Positive Woman Offers Graphic Testimony Against Zuma, Once Seen as the Next President

A policeman watches supporters of former deputy president Jacob Zuma outside the courthouse in Johannesburg. Zuma also faces separate charges in a case he says is a vendetta by political rivals. (By Siphiwe Sibeko -- Reuters)

JOHANNESBURG, March 6 -- An HIV-positive AIDS activist testified in court Monday that South Africa's former deputy president, Jacob Zuma, raped her without a condom, in a case that could end the charismatic leader's political career.

The 31-year-old woman, a longtime Zuma family friend who said she had informed Zuma of her HIV status several years before, gave graphic testimony as she took the stand for the first time.

As more than 2,000 Zuma supporters demonstrated outside the Johannesburg courthouse, his accuser testified that the man once seen as South Africa's likely next president offered to "tuck her in" and then had sex with her against her will.

"I thought, 'Oh no, uncle cannot be naked, he is on top of me and I am in his house,' " the woman said between sobs in the hushed courtroom, which was closed except for a few family members and reporters. "I thought, 'This can't be happening.' And at that point I faced reality that I was just about to be raped."

Zuma sat stony-faced during the woman's testimony, which followed his not-guilty plea earlier Monday.

Zuma's attorney read a statement to the court in which Zuma conceded having had consensual sex with the woman, but denied that a rape had occurred. "The woman visited my home on November 2 on her own volition. We had sex for some time. It was consensual," it said.

"At no stage did the complainant say no to any of the actions we performed. At no stage did I believe that the sexual intercourse was against the will of the complainant. She was at all times at liberty to say so and to voice her disapproval."

One of South Africa's most popular politicians, Zuma was fired as President Thabo Mbeki's deputy last year during a corruption scandal in which he was charged. The separate rape case was filed later.

Zuma has denied both the corruption and rape accusations, and says the corruption case is part of a vendetta by his political enemies in the ruling African National Congress, where he remains widely popular. That case is due to go to trial in July.

Although Zuma has received vocal backing in the graft case from his supporters and allies of the ANC, support for him in the rape case has been more muted, reflecting the stigma that rape carries in a country battling abuse of women.

A guilty verdict in the rape case could send Zuma to prison for as long as 15 years, while an acquittal could still leave him with a fair chance of becoming president, depending on the outcome of the graft trial.

In the rape trial, the AIDS activist was asked whether Zuma had used a condom. She testified, "He did not."

She said she waited for two days to report the alleged rape to police because she regarded Zuma as "family." She also said she was pressured by various people, including one who offered money, to drop the case.