Zuma tells court he is HIV-negative

JOHANNESBURG – Former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is fighting to save his political career, told his rape trial yesterday that he does not have HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.

Zuma, who led the country’s anti-AIDS campaign while in government, remains one of the country’s most popular politicians despite facing the rape case and a corruption trial in July that could thrust him into political oblivion. He has denied raping a 31-year-old HIV-positive family friend at his home in Johannesburg and insists they had consensual sex.He told the court he knew his HIV status when he had sex with the woman on Nov.2 last year and had tested again.”On the day in question I knew my status.I knew for a fact that I was not infected and I know as of now I am not infected.There was no reason why she could think I was HIV-positive,” he said under cross-examination.South Africa has the world’s largest caseload of AIDS, with up to five million of its 45 million people carrying HIV.Zuma said as the government’s chief point man on AIDS, he had worked hard to press home the message on condom use to prevent rapid spread of AIDS.He said he used condoms regularly but added that from his knowledge of HIV the risk of infection was low for healthy people like himself.Public figures in South Africa rarely reveal their HIV status to the public.President Thabo Mbeki sacked Zuma from his post of state deputy president mid last year amid a corruption row.Zuma retains the deputy presidency of the ruling African National Congress party – which has been sharply divided by Zuma’s woes.Zuma launched his defence on Monday after Johannesburg High Court Judge Willem van der Merwe’s decision last week not to dismiss the state’s case, which Zuma’s lawyers had argued lacked sufficient evidence to yield a rape conviction.Once seen as the leading candidate to succeed Mbeki when his current term expires in 2009, Zuma was sacked last year amid a corruption scandal and was later hit with the rape charge.Zuma has repeatedly asserted that the graft charges against him are a plot by his enemies to derail his presidential hopes, fanning political tensions within the party.Defence lawyers have sought to discredit the woman, who under South African law cannot be named, by detailing episodes of her sexual history and depicting her encounter with Zuma as one of mutual enticement.”She took the initiative …When she noticed that I was hesitant she encouraged me,” Zuma told the court yesterday.- Nampa-ReutersHe has denied raping a 31-year-old HIV-positive family friend at his home in Johannesburg and insists they had consensual sex.He told the court he knew his HIV status when he had sex with the woman on Nov.2 last year and had tested again.”On the day in question I knew my status.I knew for a fact that I was not infected and I know as of now I am not infected.There was no reason why she could think I was HIV-positive,” he said under cross-examination.South Africa has the world’s largest caseload of AIDS, with up to five million of its 45 million people carrying HIV.Zuma said as the government’s chief point man on AIDS, he had worked hard to press home the message on condom use to prevent rapid spread of AIDS.He said he used condoms regularly but added that from his knowledge of HIV the risk of infection was low for healthy people like himself.Public figures in South Africa rarely reveal their HIV status to the public.President Thabo Mbeki sacked Zuma from his post of state deputy president mid last year amid a corruption row.Zuma retains the deputy presidency of the ruling African National Congress party – which has been sharply divided by Zuma’s woes.Zuma launched his defence on Monday after Johannesburg High Court Judge Willem van der Merwe’s decision last week not to dismiss the state’s case, which Zuma’s lawyers had argued lacked sufficient evidence to yield a rape conviction.Once seen as the leading candidate to succeed Mbeki when his current term expires in 2009, Zuma was sacked last year amid a corruption scandal and was later hit with the rape charge.Zuma has repeatedly asserted that the graft charges against him are a plot by his enemies to derail his presidential hopes, fanning political tensions within the party.Defence lawyers have sought to discredit the woman, who under South African law cannot be named, by detailing episodes of her sexual history and depicting her encounter with Zuma as one of mutual enticement.”She took the initiative …When she noticed that I was hesitant she encouraged me,” Zuma told the court yesterday.- Nampa-Reuters