Sam’s View

As most of us know, the South African ex-deputy president has been a very naughty boy. Here is a brief summary for those who are less familiar with the embarrassing state of affairs:

Things started getting nasty when a little bird told a much bigger bird that Zuma was enjoying various financial kickbacks from one of the biggest crooked businessmen in the country, Shabier Sheik. He is in big trouble already for his irregular wheeling and dealing, but now his good ol’ mate Zuma is getting dragged through the mess as well. The media reported the following”

charges against Mr Zuma followed the prosecution for corruption and fraud of his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik; evidence aired at that trial suggested that Mr Shaik had been engaging in illegal activity to Mr Zuma’s benefit, even if not actually with Mr Zuma’s knowledge.

Yeah of course he had no knowledge of it. When his bank-balance was rising, I am sure he just thought that someone was being generous and or really liked him. Do me a favour! Scenario two he is just dumb and can’t read or add…I am going eith the latter.
Soon after this publicity, any South African with a half a clue about our governmental gravy-train and other untoward activities, was waiting in anticipation to see if our president would actually fire the lying idiot. What with them being big mates and with the future intention of Zuma becoming president one day (what a frightful thought), we were wondering how old Thabo and his cronies were going to handle this one. I think he knew better than to try and cover up or excuse the debaucherous activity of his “second in command”. So the press soon reported:

That evidence was enough for Mr Mbeki to dismiss his deputy – citing the need to send out a strong message against corruption – and for prosecutors to start investigating charges. While Mr Zuma’s many supporters within the ANC and its allies stood by him as he was charged with corruption, his support has ebbed since the rape allegations first emerged in the press last month. The corruption and rape charges have caused the party its biggest internal crisis since it was elected to power in 1994.

So in the wake of all of the fraudent activity, a young lady somes forward and publicly declares that Zuma raped her. So now we are dealing with a trail within a trial…so his future is looking a little less green, yellow and black-tinted.

So his response to this claim is that “she was asking for it”. I mean can you guys not come up a with something a more original? That reason really is getting tired. He has also stressed to the court that his accuser sent him a number of “sexual signals” during the evening of the alleged attack:

According to the media, Zuma stated that these included her initiation of sexually themed conversations, her wearing of a knee-length skirt, the way she sat, and her insistence on speaking to him about a particular subject. Repeatedly asked by De Beer why he had not asked the complainant to disclose what she wanted to discuss with him, Zuma said he had given her the opportunity, and if she failed to take it, it indicated to him that she was in fact after sex. De Beer then asked: “So, she then followed you to your room for sex?” Zuma agreed, claiming that it was “not very easy for a woman to come up to your room dressed only in a kanga in the evening”. According to Zuma, the fact that the woman had come to the room confirmed all the signs of sexual interest from her he had picked up earlier that evening.

I think he need to get off his high horse. I wonder if he has looked in the mirror lately. I find it hard to believe that he has this constantly flow of women wanting to be with his. He clearly thinks himself quite the stud…

The nail in the coffin (so to speak) is the fact that this young lady who was raped or who consented to the act (will we ever know?!) is an HIV positive AIDS activist. The most astounding fact of all is that Zuma went ahead and had unprotected sex with a woman who had her HIV status crystal clear to him before any “action” took place. So besides the fact that doing something like that is so astoundingly stupid, the fact that he is a role model for people in a country where 1 in 9 (I think its much higher, more like 1 in 4) people are infected with the HI Virus and / or living with AIDS, is simply dispicable. What definitely takes the cake is his views on HIV in general. Given that this guy has been involved in various AIDS campaigning and sees himself as a “voice of the SA people” one would assume he would practice what he preaches. Instead he provides us with this little gem of wisom:

Former deputy president Jacob Zuma testified on Tuesday he had sex with an HIV-positive woman – who has since accused him of rape – because the risk was minimal. “I knew the risk was very minimal,” he told the Johannesburg High Court. Zuma said he knew there was a risk but believed it was small, from knowledge he had gained while serving on the Aids Council. He said he did not tell the woman his HIV-status, but he thought she knew he was HIV-negative.Prosecutor Charin de Beer asked Zuma why he had had discussions with people about herbs that could help fight the virus. She put it to him that these people had approached him about these herbs because he was HIV-positive. “No, that is not true,” he replied. De Beer also put it to Zuma that his not using a condom was an indication of rape. The woman had earlier testified she would never have had consensual sex without a condom. Zuma denied this, saying the woman had taken the initiative for them to have sex and when he was hesitant to go ahead after they found neither of them had a condom, she encouraged him. Zuma admitted that the rape allegation had caused his reputation considerable damage and that was the reason he took a decision to step down from certain African National Congress structures. Before his cross-examination started, he told the court he had sex with the woman for about 15 minutes. When asked by his advocate, Kemp J Kemp what the intensity of the intercourse was, Zuma said: “it was normal sexual intercourse by two people who enjoy having sexual intercourse.” Zuma’s HIV-status has been the subject of speculation since the trial began. His most recent test was last month. – Sapa

What makes things worse is he then states quite seriously that he hopped into the shower after the stupid act so that he would reduce his chances of contracting the disease:

Zuma said last week in his rape trial at the Johannesburg High Court that he took a shower after having sex with his HIV-positive accuser, as he felt this would minimise his risk of infection.

This cartoon sums up what, I am sure, any educated or informed individual thinks: