SOUTH AFRICA’S most politically divisive trial since the end of apartheid ends this week with one thing certain — the gaping wounds it has opened are unlikely to heal swiftly.

The rape trial of the former deputy President Jacob Zuma — who still thinks himself fit to be the rightful heir to Nelson Mandela — has thrown the spotlight on the underbelly of modern South Africa and revealed a nation deeply at odds with itself on many key issues such as HIV/Aids and violence against women.

To his critics, Mr Zuma’s defence has simply highlighted the “arrogance of power” associated with top figures in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and disclosed disturbing attitudes to women at odds with the country’s carefully cultivated “Rainbow Nation” image.

However, angry supporters — and there are many, particularly in his Zulu homeland — see a carefully orchestrated smear campaign by a new wealthy black elite determined to maintain a grip on economic and political power and increasingly accused of cronyism by those in the black majority still to benefit from the end of white minority rule.

The defence will present its final submissions today and Judge William van der Merve has said he wants to pass judgment by May 8 at the latest.

There is no jury system in South Africa.

Whatever the verdict, Mr Zuma has been deeply damaged by the trial. Tawdry courtroom revelations have left his credibility in tatters and he faces a separate trial on corruption charges later this year. However, few commentators are yet prepared to count him out, such are the rivalries that the “Zuma crisis” has revealed.

President Mbeki, who has broken with the ANC’s leftwing past, dismissed Mr Zuma last year for his alleged involvement in a multimillion-pound arms scandal.

Mr Zuma immediately rallied the trade union movement, communist party and other activists to his side. The rape allegations then surfaced, reinforcing his supporters’ belief in an anti-Zuma conspiracy.

“This is not a shy 15 or 16-year-old girl . . . She knows how to stand up for herself,” said the defence lawyer Kemp J. Kemp of the 31-year-old complainant who says she was raped by Mr Zuma, 64, at his home last November 2.

South Africa has the highest rate of reported rapes in the world. Only one in ten of the cases which reach court end in a conviction. The complainant is under state protection.

Mr Zuma, who once headed the country’s Moral Regeneration Movement, said that he did not use a condom. Aids groups said the statement had put back their cause by more than ten years. A veteran political analyst and writer, Alistair Sparks, said: “Whatever happens, there are stormy times ahead; the ANC is split down the middle.”

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