Johannesburg
Former South African Vice President Jacob Zuma this week was acquitted of sensational charges that he had raped a family friend who is HIV-positive. After allowing evidence that the 31-year-old accuser had brought false allegations of rape against other men in the past, Judge Willem van der Merwe ruled that the sex was consensual. Van der Merwe said he did not believe the alleged victim’s account that she was attacked in a bedroom. “Why would a man be so foolish to start raping a sleeping woman if he did not know whether she would scream her head off?” the judge asked. Joyous crowds cheered outside the courtroom when the popular Zuma, 64, emerged. He apologized to the nation for setting a bad example by not wearing a condom.
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