Fezeka “Khwezi” Khuzwayo, who accused President Jacob Zuma of raping her in 2005, will be buried in Durban on Saturday.
The HIV-positive Khuzwayo, widely known as “Khwezi”, a name given to her by media during the 2006 rape trial, accused Zuma of raping her at his home in Johannesburg in 2005. She died last Saturday aged 42. The cause of her death has not been made public. She maintained that she had been raped and sought refuge in the Netherlands, she returned to South Africa in 2014.
Her death drew widespread condolence messages to her family. On Friday, gender activists held a memorial service for her in Johannesburg and praised Khuzwayo for her courage to speak out even though many, mostly Zuma’s supporters, insulted and used derogatory remarks against her during the trial.
Zuma, who was then deputy president, was eventually acquitted of raping the then 31-year-old Khuzwayo and went on to become the country’s president in 2009. He argued that it was consensual sex, infamously adding that he had a shower afterwards to prevent HIV transmission.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
