Erstwhile deputy president Jacob Zuma has told the high court he had sex with a woman who was not one of his wives.

Perhaps before engaging in such activity he should have checked first with an expert in the field, perhaps the former head of the Moral Regeneration Campaign. Oops, that's him.

Then he went on to say that the chances of him catching the disease from the HIV-positive woman were slim. Perhaps he should have first consulted with an eminent person in the field, such as the former leader of the National Aids Council. Oops, that's him.

Then to add ignorance to irresponsible promiscuity (at best), he added that after the deed he had a shower so as to minimise the chances of his becoming HIV-positive. To make such a statement he must have first consulted someone utterly unsuited to be the leader of a street committee, let alone an emerging nation and a regional powerhouse. Oops, that's him too.

For, notwithstanding the outcome of his rape trial, or his forthcoming corruption trial, events in the high court have put an end to his national political career, if the initial charge of rape brought against him had not already done so.

The small band of supporters outside the court are no indication of any remaining groundswell of support for Zuma in his now stillborn succession battle with the camp of President Thabo Mbeki. They are street theatre, and largely abominable in their behaviour - not to the high and mighty, but to the public that has been left as much bemused by Zuma's utterances as they have been revolted by the antics of his supporters in attempting to intimidate his accuser.

Much of the ugly underbelly of our society has been exposed in the out-of-court battles over Zuma, and it is not an edifying sight. But just as in the trials of yesteryear, when for example "supporters" dressed as Waffen SS officers would appear at the trials of murderous right-wingers, so too will the buffoonery of this saga soon be largely forgotten as we go about the matters of daily life, while various political factions seek new icons to spearhead their aspirations.

To those seeking an alternative to Mbeki's leadership style, Zuma hammered the nails into the coffin of his candidacy this week more surely than any political opponent could have. He is clearly not a leader of this decade, century, millennium or even this holiday weekend.

As South Africa looks for a president to carry on with the fight to bring this nation into the forefront of African renaissance, for this we can be thankful.

With acknowledgement to The Sunday Independent.