08 May 2010

The One in Nine Campaign today celebrates the power and strength of
women and yet again expresses outrage, four years after the hostile and
misogynist judgment in the rape trial of Mr Jacob Zuma.

The One in Nine Campaign used this opportunity to talk with Khwezi, the
woman who laid the charge of rape and endured the trauma of the criminal
justice system.

Four years after the judgment in the Jacob Zuma rape trial, please share
with us a little about how you have been doing?

The past few years have been an emotional roller-coaster ride for both Ma and I.

At a time when I needed support, was angry and needed an outlet and a way to make
sense of everything with like-minded people - whether in the form of just sitting
together in silence, singing, laughing, crying or protesting - I found myself alone,
without these activists and friends.

Because I have known that I did what was right for me, for women, for justice, I have
managed to pull through the last 4 four years, but not without pain. I have looked for
and found ways to carry on and keep alive and feel part of something, like
volunteering and going to school. I have tried and have tried and have yet to be
successful to find suitable outlets for my constant inbuilt need to work for social
justice. The issues of women and people in this country and people at home are not
the same. We speak a different language in many ways.

But Ma and I have also received kindness and love in places unexpected, found allies
in some people who may be thought of as “the most unlikely” of people.

Four years ago, in an interview after the judgment, we asked you whether
you had any regrets about laying the rape charge. How do you feel now?

I do not regret making the decision to lay a rape charge. I still maintain that it was the
right thing to do, the only thing to do, that there was no choice in the matter and that I
would do the same, even knowing what I know now.
The court process did not bring justice for you and for many women who
followed the case. From where you stand today, what would you consider to
be justice for the violation that you were subjected to by the man who
violated you?

First and foremost justice would start with a justice system that doesn't further
victimise the survivor by refusing her counseling before she takes the statement,
allowing a male officer to take her statement, and then making her narrate the story
not once but twice...

Justice would be a society that does not make a hero of a man that has raped, does
not turn the survivor's sexual abuse as a child into character assassination, and does
not allow such events to be brought in “evidence” in court...

Justice would have been served if the evidence was heard fairly, without the
interference of power and politics.

If justice had been served, it would have been clear that he was guilty.

Justice would be served if all police stations were friendly to survivors of rape, had
trained staff who treated us with dignity, and were places we feel safe to go to,
instead of being places we are scared to go to for fear of further violation.

Justice would be served if a rape case was about the rape and not what the survivor
was wearing or what she said or did, as long as she did not consent.

Justice would be served if we were treated with respect, consideration was given to
what we had already gone through, and investigations and cases were executed with
dignity, professionalism, compassion and speed.

And justice would be rapists getting sentences fitting their crimes.

Today Mr Zuma, the man against whom you laid rape charges is the
President of South Africa. You are in exile, far from home, family and
friends. What are your thoughts and feelings about this?

I think this is unjust and sends a message that I as a citizen of South Africa do not
have the right to speak out, to stand up for my rights.

I am being punished for speaking out against an injustice that has been done to me.

I lose my freedom in my own country, my livelihood and ultimately my country and

friends and family because I demanded my constitutional right and my rapist not only
runs free but is glorified.

Looking back at some of the accusations by your detractors, for example,

that that you had other motives for laying the charge. Do you have anything
to say about or to them?
I am tempted not to even dignify this with a response, because it is only someone who
chooses to see it that way that would think that way.

Which woman, knowing the justice system and the attitude of society towards rape
survivors, would subject herself to that?

Who living in the South Africa that we were living in then, and that you are all are still
living in now, would subject themselves to going through everything I have been
through for any other reason but for the greater good or for the sake of justice.

Is there anything else you would like to share with women in South Africa
from where you stand today?

The struggle for freedom and liberation of our country is far from over.

Until we can walk safely in the street, trust our brothers and fathers, and know that
the justice system serves all South Africans equally and with dignity regardless of who
we are, the struggle will not be over.

We must continue until we can truly be free to speak out without fear, until police
officers are people we can run to rather than people to run away from.

Until then, the struggle has to continue.

Finally, I just want to quote Martin Luther King Jr. who said "Our lives begin to end the
day we become silent about things that matter".

If we don't speak out about these issues, things will never change.

I would never have been able to live with myself if I had not laid a charge against my
rapist. Yes I might have been able to breathe and eat and go to the toilet, but the
important part of me would have been dead. These words of King give me strength
and remind me of why I am where I am and what matters.

And as I say that, I remember the words of Maya Angelou "...people will forget what
you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made
them feel."

I think that it is important that whatever we do, we touch people. That is what makes
the difference ultimately. My father died when I was but a little girl, but I remember
that he made me feel special. I may not remember all that the Judge said, but I know
that because of the way he said it, he made me feel dirty.

I don't remember the details of the One in Nine Campaign activities during the time
when I was in survival mode, but I know that you all made me feel strong!!!
End

Terms & Conditions of Use of Interview with Khwezi conducted by the One in
Nine Campaign
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1. You may copy, download or print extracts of the interview with Khwezi conducted by the One in Nine Campaign
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For more information on the interview please contact:

Carrie Shelver carrie@powa.co.za 083 628 6996

Dawn Cavanagh dawn.cavanagh@gmail.com 071 104 1718