President Jacob Zuma was in the hot seat and the dock in 2005 when an allegation of rape was laid against him.
Zuma who was then South Africa’s deputy president – was accused of raping a woman who was a guest at his house. The scandal went from bad to worse when it emerged that Zuma was aware that his accuser was HIV-positive.
During the trial, Zuma admitted to having unprotected sex with the accuser, but claimed he took a shower afterwards to cut the risk of contracting HIV.
The comments sent the media into a frenzy, inspiring cartoonist Zapiro’s iconic yet infamous shower head depiction, that has accompanied the president in the social commentator’s cartoons ever since.
Zuma was found not guilty of rape by the court in May 2006. A year later his accuser was granted asylum in the Netherlands.
