Jacob Zuma's accuser gave the Johannesburg High Court a graphic account of the night she alleges the former deputy president raped her.

The woman, who may not be named and who gave evidence behind closed doors, said she had gone to Zuma's house on the night of November 2 to discuss a family problem.

Several other people were there, and she had helped to prepare supper.

After the meal most people left. Zuma's daughter had agreed to give a friend a lift home, leaving the complainant and Zuma alone in the house.

The woman, an HIV/Aids activist who refers to Zuma as her uncle or umalume, said he asked her if she planned to stay overnight and she told him she did. They chatted and Zuma asked her why she did not have a boyfriend, prompting her to joke that "all the good ones (men) are taken".

"He said I needed to compromise and that I should have a companion. Just because I was HIV-positive did not mean that I should not have physical contact," said the woman, who spoke clearly and eloquently.

She said Zuma eventually insisted that she go to bed and led her to the guest bedroom.

Once in the bedroom, Zuma told her he would come back and massage her and tuck her in, she alleged.

"I didn't think anything much of it, and then he left the room. I proceeded to go and close the door and shower. After that I put on my kanga," she said.

A kanga is a large piece of fabric which is wrapped around the body.

Later she lay in bed, sent an SMS, and then started falling asleep.

Zuma had come into her room and asked if she was asleep, and she told him she was about to fall asleep.

""He said: 'My daughter, I am going to attend to my people'.I climbed under the covers."

She explained that she had been wearing nothing underneath her kanga, because she had just showered and was keeping her fresh underwear for the next day, and that had been wearing the garment when she climbed into bed and fell asleep.

"Some time later that night I had fallen asleep on my stomach facing towards the toilet and away from the curtain. I heard a voice from behind me, from the direction of the curtain.

"It was umalume's voice and he asked, 'Are you already sleeping?' And I mumbled and said 'Mmmm'."

Her eyes were closed, but she had left her bedroom light on.

Slightly roused, she changed her position and curled up and covered her head with the duvet, intent on sleeping.

"My uncle then said 'I thought I'd come and tuck you in, I thought I'd come to massage you,'" the woman said, beginning to weep.

"Then I said 'No umalume, I am already asleep. I will see you tomorrow'. He said 'I can even give you a massage while you are sleeping,' and I said 'No umalume, I am already asleep'."

The woman alleged that at this point Zuma had pulled the duvet off her and began massaging her shoulders a she lay on her side.

She alleged he then turned her over so she was facing upwards as he continued to massage her shoulders as she protested. "I opened my eyes and that's when I saw he was naked. I saw his naked body and I saw his naked penis. I immediately closed my eyes again and turned the other way. I thought, 'Oh no, he's on top of me, I'm in his house. I was just confused. I thought this can't be happening and at that point I faced reality: that he was just about to rape me."

The woman claimed that Zuma opened up her kanga and used his right knee to part her legs.

"He took his hands and held my hands," she said, grimacing with anguish and speaking slowly. She said that while Zuma was raping her he had started talking.

"He said: 'I told you I would take care of you'. He said 'Sweetheart,' and he said 'You are a real daughter, a real girl'. And then he gave me a peck on the lips and one on my cheek. He started thrusting harder and harder and then he asked me, 'Can I ejaculate inside of you?' "

The woman said she had not responded while Zuma, she alleged, had continued to rape her.

"After he left I lay on the bed. I couldn't move, I just lay there. Eventually I gathered my strength and found my kanga and covered myself."

Zuma had not used a condom, she said. Later he had come to ask her again if she was asleep, but she did not answer.

"Then he said: 'Come via me when you go in the morning. Please don't go without seeing me in the morning to say goodbye'," she said.

The trial continues.

With acknowledgement to Gill Gifford, Karyn Maughan, Jeremy Gordin and the Cape Argus.