Contesting the "private" and "public": the representation of sex, politics and culture in the event(s) of the Jacob Zuma versus Kwezi rape trial in South Africa

Abstract

The chapter provides a perspective on the meanings of the Jacob Zuma versus Kwezi Rape Trial in South Africa. The chapter looks at the various meanings of "private" versus "public" by close reading the events surrounding the trial, both in relation to the legal proceedings within the court and the public protests outside the courtroom. The chapter offers a close reading of the judgment not in a legal sense, but through an analysis of the discourse and meanings generated. Aspects related to masculinity, power, patriarchy, culture and victimhood remain central to the argument. The chapter makes the case that the manner in which the law engages in protecting women and children, suggests that the law too, as an effect of patriarchal power, mobilizes meanings to victimize women.