Zuma trial to end but fears of AIDS impact linger on

JOHANNESBURG – Witnesses are expected to wrap up testimony in South Africa’s highest profile rape trial today as experts voice concern over the impact of evidence given by the accused himself – former deputy president Jacob Zuma.

Defence lawyers for the 64-year-old former politician, accused of raping an HIV-positive woman at his luxury Johannesburg home in November last year, will call their last witness to the stand with closing arguments expected to follow. A verdict is expected within the next few weeks in the case that has kept South Africa spellbound since it opened in a Johannesburg courtroom in mid-February amid intense interest from both local and foreign media.But experts and aids activists said they were worried how Zuma’s comments on HIV and AIDS were perceived by many who followed the trial in a country where 6,5 million people live with the disease.Once the front-runner to become South Africa’s next president after Thabo Mbeki, Zuma made a number of claims before court that has shocked many who fight the pandemic in a country with one of the world’s highest caseloads.Questioned on the risk he was exposed to by having unprotected sex with a woman whom he knew was HIV-positive, Zuma explained that the chances of him getting the disease were “minimal.”Zuma – who admitted to having sex with the AIDS activist but claimed it was consensual – then told the court he took a shower afterwards to minimise the risk of contracting the disease.But his statements have drawn heavy flak from commentators, AIDS activists and doctors alike.”He (Zuma) thought only of himself.He did not think about the legion of young men and women for whom he is (still) a national hero and a mentor,” the weekly Mail and Guardian newspaper recently said in an editorial.”What possible message can these young people take from the evidence in the trial?” it asked.For anti-AIDS group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) spokesman Mark Heywood, Zuma’s remarks are worrying because they come from a “public character who enjoys unquestionable popularity”, especially among the poor and less educated.Zuma’s statements have been all the more surprising because while South Africa’s number two, he was seen as the moral voice of clarity and reason within a government accused of making excuses when dealing with the pandemic.Kgosi Letlape, President of the South African Medical Association (Sama), said Zuma’s declarations before court showed that there was an especially urgent need to re-examine existing programmes in terms of AIDS prevention.”What worries me more is that in spite of the degree of knowledge which he had (about the pandemic), he did not modify its behaviour,” he told AFP, adding that there was a “enormous challenge” in this field.”The problem is that we have high levels of knowledge (about the modes of transmission of the pandemic), but low levels in the changes of behaviour,” the TAC’s Heywood added.Last week, Zuma, who faces between five to 15 years in jail if found guilty, left it up to his lawyers to take the legal debate to another level aimed at attacking the credibility of the complainant.- Nampa-AFPA verdict is expected within the next few weeks in the case that has kept South Africa spellbound since it opened in a Johannesburg courtroom in mid-February amid intense interest from both local and foreign media.But experts and aids activists said they were worried how Zuma’s comments on HIV and AIDS were perceived by many who followed the trial in a country where 6,5 million people live with the disease.Once the front-runner to become South Africa’s next president after Thabo Mbeki, Zuma made a number of claims before court that has shocked many who fight the pandemic in a country with one of the world’s highest caseloads.Questioned on the risk he was exposed to by having unprotected sex with a woman whom he knew was HIV-positive, Zuma explained that the chances of him getting the disease were “minimal.”Zuma – who admitted to having sex with the AIDS activist but claimed it was consensual – then told the court he took a shower afterwards to minimise the risk of contracting the disease.But his statements have drawn heavy flak from commentators, AIDS activists and doctors alike.”He (Zuma) thought only of himself.He did not think about the legion of young men and women for whom he is (still) a national hero and a mentor,” the weekly Mail and Guardian newspaper recently said in an editorial.”What possible message can these young people take from the evidence in the trial?” it asked.For anti-AIDS group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) spokesman Mark Heywood, Zuma’s remarks are worrying because they come from a “public character who enjoys unquestionable popularity”, especially among the poor and less educated.Zuma’s statements have been all the more surprising because while South Africa’s number two, he was seen as the moral voice of clarity and reason within a government accused of making excuses when dealing with the pandemic.Kgosi Letlape, President of the South African Medical Association (Sama), said Zuma’s declarations before court showed that there was an especially urgent need to re-examine existing programmes in terms of AIDS prevention.”What worries me more is that in spite of the degree of knowledge which he had (about the pandemic), he did not modify its behaviour,” he told AFP, adding that there was a “enormous challenge” in this field.”The problem is that we have high levels of knowledge (about the modes of transmission of the pandemic), but low levels in the changes of behaviour,” the TAC’s Heywood added.Last week, Zuma, who faces between five to 15 years in jail if found guilty, left it up to his lawyers to take the legal debate to another level aimed at attacking the credibility of the complainant.- Nampa-AFP