'Khwezi' given five-year residence on humanitarian grounds

The woman who accused former deputy president Jacob Zuma of raping her has been granted asylum in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government has given "humanitarian asylum" but not political asylum to the woman known as "Khwezi", who unsuccessfully charged Zuma with rape last year.

Jantinus Smallenbroek, a senior diplomat at the Dutch embassy in Pretoria, clarified his government's position yesterday after some confusion earlier about whether Khwezi had been given asylum or just residence.

Smallenbroek said the Dutch justice minister had used his discretion to give her humanitarian asylum. Khwezi could stay in the Netherlands for up to five years.

He stressed that she had not been given political asylum, which would imply that she faced political threats.

The Dutch newspaper Volkskrant reported yesterday that Khwezi had been given political asylum because she feared that Zuma's supporters might harm her, not only in South Africa but elsewhere in Africa, where she claimed Zuma had supporters hostile to her.

Smallenbroek said it was possible that Khwezi might have applied for asylum on the grounds that she feared for her life, but insisted this was not the reason she had been given humanitarian asylum.

The woman fled to Holland with her mother following the controversial trial, which ended in Zuma's acquittal on May 11.

During the trial, Khwezi claimed she had gone to visit the man she viewed as a father figure. She stayed overnight in the spare room and claimed that Zuma had come to her and raped her despite her having cried: "No".

Zuma claimed it was Khwezi who had gone into his bedroom and seduced him. He admitted to having unprotected sex with her, despite knowing that she was HIV-positive.

While Khwezi claimed she was a lesbian and had not consented to sex with Zuma, his legal team called a string of witnesses who testified to having been accused of rape by the complainant.

Khwezi's arrival in Holland was said to be in terms of a political arrangement. She was understood to have been at risk in South Africa as she had regularly received death threats.

Khwezi was said to have been granted a business visa by the Dutch embassy in Pretoria in response to an invitation extended by the Dutch Aids Fund (Nederlandse Aids Fonds).

When this visa expired, the asylum procedures came into effect, during which her rights to stay in Amsterdam were called into question.

She had been working for the fund, and lived in a house in Amsterdam that was rented by the fund. Canada and the UK were also said to have offered her protection.

With acknowledgements to Gill Gifford, Peter Fabricius and The Star.