But yesterday Jacob Zuma stood in the dock in a Johannesburg courtroom accused of rape, his quest for the presidency apparently in ruins. As political demises go, it could hardly have been more dramatic.

A hushed courtroom listened as an HIV-positive Aids activist recounted in graphic detail on the first day of his trial how she had been raped by the trusted friend of her family.

Mr Zuma, 63, pleaded not guilty to the rape charges, but admitted consensual sex with the woman, who stayed the night at his house.

Inside the courtroom, the chants of about 2,000 Zuma supporters, could be heard as the 31-year-old woman, who says that Mr Zuma knew of her condition, told of how a man she regarded as “an uncle” had sex with her against her will and without using a condom.

In a country with one of the highest known HIV/Aids infection rates in the world, it is a damning statement. Commentators say that even if Mr Zuma is cleared his political career is in ruins.

Supporters say that he is the victim of a political assassination and that rape is the most damaging charge imaginable.

Opponents allege that it is a political suicide brought on by the arrogance of power.

Whatever the truth — and most people believe that it will never be known — until the middle of last year, Mr Zuma, a charismatic politician popular with the grassroots, was riding high, confident of the top job in a matter of years.

Then he was named in an arms corruption scandal, involving his financial adviser, and fired. He now faces a separate trial on bribery and corruption charges next July, but he was in the middle of a heated fightback when he was hit by the rape allegations.

Allies on the left wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and trade unions, irked by President Mbeki’s free-market economic policies and lack of consultation, claim that Mr Zuma is the victim of a political vendetta that goes to the top of the ANC. His critics say that he is his own worst enemy and that he failed to understand the ANC’s evolution from liberation movement to responsible government. Only this, they say, can explain him singing old battle songs such as Bring Me My Machine Gun at rallies.

The most politically explosive trial in South Africa since the end of apartheid was delayed for several weeks after three successive judges stood down, citing conflicts of interest. The last said that his sister’s child had been fathered by Mr Zuma more than 20 years ago.

South Africa has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world. It is such an emotive issue that even close allies feel they have to distance themselves from Mr Zuma. Even he must have realised the end was near when he heard the alleged victim’s testimony.

The woman, who said that she had known him since she was 5, told the High Court how Mr Zuma came into her bedroom and offered to “tuck her in”.

After she said “No”, he then allegedly removed her bed cover and began to massage her. “At that point I opened my eyes and saw that he was naked.” she told the court.

“I thought ‘oh no, uncle (Zuma) cannot be naked, he is on top of me and I am in his house’,” the woman sobbed. “I thought this can’t be happening. And at that point I faced reality that I was just about to be raped.”

Mr Zuma, who served in the ANC’s armed wing and was imprisoned on Robben Island, had entered the court amid tight security. He was asked by the chief prosecutor Charin de Beer if he had “unlawfully and intentionally assaulted an adult female and had sexual intercourse with her”.

He stood up and, in a strong voice, replied “not guilty”.

Mr Zuma said in a statement that the woman had come to his home in Johannesburg and that they had “intercourse which lasted for some time and was consensual”. He said: “She had a cellphone which she could have used and she could have left the place at any time.”

FIGHTER TURNED POLITICIAN

• Jacob Zuma, born April 12, 1942
  
  
• Joined ANC in 1959, arrested in 1963, jailed for ten years on Robben island
  
  
• Head of ANC's intelligence wing
  
  
• 1994 elected ANC chairman
  
  
• Appointed in 1999 as Vice-President

  WHERE WOMEN ARE VICTIMS

• That equates to 118 per 100,000 people, compared with about 23 per 100,000 in England and Wales
  
  
• There has been a 23 per cent increase in reported rapes since the ANC won post-apartheid elections in 1994
  
  
• In the same period, the number of reported sexual assaults has more than doubled to more than 10,000
  
• In 1998 fewer than 7 per cent of reported rapes were prosecuted
  
  
• Approximately one third of women raped in South Africa who do not receive anti-retroviral drugs will become HIV positive (Source: South African Police Service and People Opposing Women Abuse)

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