Johannesburg, South Africa – South Africa’s popular former deputy president, already facing corruption charges, was charged with rape Tuesday in a case that could destroy his chances of taking the helm of the continent’s economic and diplomatic powerhouse.
Jacob Zuma, who was dismissed from government but remains No. 2 in the governing African National Congress, insisted he was innocent but said he was voluntarily withdrawing from his party’s leadership structures for the duration of the trial.
Zuma was formally indicted at Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court and was released on $3,075 bail, the National Prosecuting Authority said. Trial was set for Feb. 13. No details of the case were released.
Reports that Zuma allegedly raped a family friend surfaced in local newspapers last month. Zuma said the intense media speculation had prejudiced his chances for a fair trial.
“I wish to state clearly that I am innocent of these charges,” Zuma said in a statement. “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. 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 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, who completes his second and final term in 2009. The rape charges, though, appear to have prompted some supporters to distance themselves.
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 to comment further, saying leaders were meeting Tuesday night to prepare a full response.
