South African President Jacob Zuma claims wife was raped

South African President Jacob Zuma
speaks at the end of a rally for the
launch of the campaign of South
Africa's governing African National
Congress (ANC) in Nelspruit.

JOHANNESBURG, Monday
South Africa's President Jacob
Zuma has said criminals broke into
his rural homestead more than a
decade ago and raped his wife, as
he sought to explain a $23 million
taxpayer-funded security upgrade
ahead of elections.
(READ: Zuma disowns controversial
$23m house upgrade)
President Zuma said the culprits
were "arrested, charged,
convicted," recounting a previously
unpublicised event at his Nkandla
homestead in KwaZulu-Natal
before he took over as president in
2009.
He did not say which of the four
wives he had at the time was the
victim. One has since committed
suicide and he has divorced the
African Union chairperson
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
The South African leader has come
under fierce criticism over the
spending ahead of Wednesday's
election. He is expected to win a
second five-year term despite the
scandal.
A public watchdog in March found
the president had unduly
benefited from the renovations,
which included a swimming pool,
helipad and private clinic, and
ordered him to pay back part of
the costs.
A view of the controversial homestead of
NKANDLA SCANDAL
"Why should I be charged for it if
some people inflated prices?" he
hit back on Monday. He said that
the issue had been stirred up by
the media and by opposition
parties.
"People don't think the Nkandla is
an issue to affect ANC voters," he
said. A recent snap poll by
research firm Pondering Panda
showed more than two thirds of
young South Africans believe Zuma
should resign over the Nkandla
scandal.
But the ANC's anti-apartheid past
is likely to be enough to give the
party another election landslide.
"We think the ANC will win the
elections overwhelmingly, not just,
you know, by the skin of its teeth,"
Zuma told a news conference two
days before the May 7 vote.
High joblessness and poverty
levels, as well as a succession of
government corruption scandals,
are unlikely to reduce support for
the ruling African National
Congress, which has won each of
the four elections since apartheid
ended in 1994.
Zuma emphasised South Africa's
progress since the end of white
minority rule, especially compared
to its African peers.
LEGACY OF APARTHEID
"All the countries who got
independence -- not a single one
has been able to deliver in the
way that we have delivered," he
said, though he acknowledged
problems in delivering basic
services especially to poor and
rural communities.
Many problems were the legacy of
apartheid, which had left certain
areas underdeveloped and
deprived black South Africans of
education, he said.
The ANC is expected to garner 63
percent in Wednesday's vote,
according to the latest Ipsos poll,
just three points less than in 2009.
But many people are expected to
stay away from the ballots,
disillusioned with the ruling party
but at a loss for a viable political
alternative.
The party wrapped up its election
campaign in Soweto township on
Sunday. Around 90,000 people
gathered for a rally at the same
stadium that hosted the 2010
football World Cup Final, though
many left during the president's
speech.

By Toboa siri