/ 13 May 2009

Equality Court to hear Malema hate speech charge

A gender advocacy group has laid a hate speech complaint against ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema for suggesting that Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser enjoyed having sex with him.

Mbuyiselo Botha, the head of the Sonke Gender Justice non-governmental organisation, had laid the complaint with the Equality Court, the Star newspaper reported on Wednesday.

He is requesting an apology from Malema and an undertaking to refrain from making statements that ”undermine women’s dignity”.

In January this year, Malema reportedly told students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology that Zuma’s rape accuser would not have stayed for breakfast if she had not enjoyed the sex.

”Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money. In the morning, that lady requested breakfast and taxi money,” Malema reportedly said.

Botha said he felt compelled to pursue the complaint.

”The majority of the population are women … but we can’t say that there is true freedom in this country if women are still considered fair game,” said Botha.

Zuma was acquitted of the rape charge in May 2006.

War of words
Meanwhile, the ANC and its allies reacted with outrage on Tuesday after Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille accused Zuma of potentially exposing his wives to HIV.

The ANC said her remark was offensive, and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called it ”disgraceful”.

ANCYL and the Young Communist League (YCL) launched blistering personal attacks on Zille.

The ANCYL said it was ”disgusted by remarks attributed to the ”racist girl Helen Zille”, who when failing to defend her stupid and sexist decision to appoint predominantly white males into her Cabinet, attacks the president of the republic of South Africa [sic]”.

”Zille has appointed an all-male Cabinet of useless people, the majority of whom are her boyfriends and concubines so that she can continue to sleep around with them, yet she claims to have the moral authority to question our president [sic].”

It threatened ”militant action” against the premier while the YCL weighed in with: ”Ms Helen Zille is a sick woman who needs help [sic].”

The Sowetan on Tuesday quoted Zille as saying: ”Zuma is a self-confessed womaniser with deeply sexist views, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman.” – Sapa