by Zelda Venter
Pretoria - The young woman who claimed President Jacob Zuma raped her 10 years ago will benefit from the settlement reached on Tuesday between former Umkhonto weSizwe commander Ronnie Kasrils and Deputy Defence Minister Kebby Maphatsoe.
Kasrils announced after the settlement in the high court in Pretoria that the R500 000 which Maphatsoe and the MK Veterans Association (MKMVA) agreed to pay him following his defamation claim against them would go into a trust fund for Khwezi.
“This is to help her with her education and to help her ailing mother, whose house was burnt down in the wake of the (rape) trial. They deserve this and I hope the MKMVA will also extend a branch of friendship to her,” Kasrils said.
In terms of the settlement reached on Tuesday, shortly after Kasrils testified against Maphatsoe, the deputy minister and the MKMVA, of which he is the national chairman, admitted that the statements made by Maphatsoe in 2014 regarding Khwezi were false, offensive and unacceptable.
He at the time, in no uncertain terms, said Kasrils was behind the rape charges. Maphatsoe in fact referred to Khwezi at the time as “Lucifer” who was sent to Zuma by the “devil” – referring to Kasrils.
Both Maphatsoe and the MKMVA on Tuesday retracted this statement.
They also apologised to all women of South Africa who were offended by the statement, especially rape victims.
Both Maphatsoe and the MKMVA also apologised to Kasrils for the deputy minister’s statements in 2014 during the “no vote campaign”, during which Maphatsoe, among others, called Kasrils an anti-revolutionary and intimated that he was a sellout.
They said these statements were false, offensive and unacceptable.
The settlement came shortly after Kasrils had concluded his evidence by saying: “Looking back, I would have put a much higher figure to the claim.”
Kasrils in his evidence said Maphatsoe had run away from an MK camp in Uganda. He said that in terms of the MK military code, this offence was one of the worst kind.
According to Kasrils, in light of this, he did not deserve to be chairman of the MKMVA.
But he later, after the matter was settled, said harsh words were spoken by him during his evidence, but it was now time to look ahead. He even reached out to Maphatsoe, who stood at a distance, listening to Kasrils speaking to the media, and shook hands with the man who he earlier this week said he chose not to befriend.
Kasrils said it took two years for Maphatsoe to apologise. “But I am pleased we could find each other in a spirit of reconciliation after the country had seen so much name calling and finger pointing.”
Kasrils said although he had parted ways with the ANC, it did not mean that he did not want to see it pick itself up and show the country that it is committed to real democracy.
He earlier testified that the damning statements made by Maphatsoe were damaging to his good name. As high commander of MK and a Struggle veteran, he had earned a lot of respect – both nationally and internationally.