We all failed Khwezi

HER real name was Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo. We knew her as Khwezi. This was the secret identity she was forced to adopt after accusing Jacob Zuma of rape in 2005. Her story is an epic tragedy.

We all failed Fezekile. As a nation we elected the man who was accused of her rape. Yes, he was acquitted of rape when it came to the trial, but he certainly did not acquit himself well in court. He exposed himself as a sexual predator with a world view framed by odious misogyny. At the very least, and by his own admission, he saw Fezekile as fair game. Zuma claimed that the fact that she was wearing a kanga was an invitation to have sex. This was a young woman he had known since she was 10 years old. Whose father had spent many years with him on Robben Island. Who called him uncle. Zuma’s supporters behaved like a medieval lynch mob. There were calls to “burn the bitch”.

Of the many execrable chapters in the life of Jacob Zuma, this betrayal must rank as one of the worst. Yet despite seeing the calibre of this man’s character laid bare in court, we as a nation duly elected him to the highest office in the land.

Fezekile was forced to leave the country under armed guard. Ironically, as a child of struggle parents she had to flee with her family from several southern African countries to escape the long arm of the apartheid state. Now she was on the run again; this time it was a democratic South Africa that could not protect her.

Fezekile eventually returned to South Africa, and slowly started the process of rebuilding her life. The going was tough. Right until the end she and her mother had to conceal their true identities to protect themselves.

May Fezekile, whom we will also remember as Khwezi, now find the peace that eluded her in life.