The two big stories on the African Blogosphere this week are the arrest of 10 Egyptian activists, including blogger Alaa Abd El-Fatah, last Sunday and the acquittal of Jacob Zuma on charges of rape in South Africa. Due to the large number of posts I am only including the Blog name and a short quote from each.

The comments on the Zuma trial range from outright disgust at the verdict to agreement with the verdict but disgust with Zuma’s perceived immoral behaviour to no comment on the verdict but an analysis of the political repercussions.

The outraged

Chump Style (http://chump-style.blogspot.com/2006/05/zuma-fucks-over-south-africa.html):

“He gets acquitted of the charges, thereby sending a message out to all rape-inclined men, ‘hey guys it’s ok if you rape a woman, if she isn’t wearing 300 layers of clothing down to her toes…She is asking for it!”

Shailja Blog (http://shailja.com/news/newsletterblog/2006/05/false-accusations.html), in response to the judges comment that the compliant had a had a history of making false accusations of rape:

“The prospect of crowds of his supporters, chanting for my blood, sending death threats, yelling ‘Burn the bitch’ outside the courthouse, just thrills me! I can't wait to be grilled on my whole life and sexual history in an open witness stand. Thank God South African law doesn't allow rape victims to testify in camera!”

Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/05/zuma_aquitted_.html):

“The verdict is a loss for Khwezi and for all the other women who will now be deterred from reporting rape knowing that they cannot expect justice to be done. That their personal lives will be invaded in the courtroom should it reach that far. That their credibility as sane people will be challenged. That she will be abused and denigrated in the media and on the streets. That other women will stand against her and heckle her.”

Nigeria, What’s New (http://nigeriawhatisnew.blogspot.com/2006/05/dreadful-men-power.html):

“In a world of shrinking leadership, the news that former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma has been acquitted of raping a 31-year-old family friend and the Judge's conclusion: ‘The complainant was inclined to accuse men of raping her or attempting to rape her’ is greeted here with shame, shame, shame. When is it acceptable to have sex with a young daughter of a close and long-standing friend? Someone that calls you Dad!”

The Moral Disgust

Urban Trash (http://urbantrash.co.za/blog/?p=122):

* he cheated on his wife (or wives);
* his sexual immorality has expressed great disrespect towards his family and peers;
* he had consensual sex with a HIV-positive family friend;
* he had consensual sex with a HIV-positive family friend half his age;
* he is a self righteous, arrogant harlequin.

It’s The Question That Drives Us Mad (http://itisthequestion.blogspot.com/2006/05/was-justice-served-in-jacob-...):

“But Mr Zuma, you have coloured my perception of you with your anachronistic beliefs and chauvinist attitude. You have shamed men as you have sung your war songs with phallic symbolism. You and your supporters may be loud and visible, but you represent an ugly side of mankind.”

Acoustic Motorbike (http://ggernst.blogeasy.com/article.view.run?articleID=314708), on a recent visit to South Africa from Zimbabwe:

“Others were dismissive of the trial based on the complainant’s history and her perceived lack of credibility. One taxi driver I spoke with at length said that he feared it would make it more difficult for other women to report rape in the future. In my cynicism, I fear he might be right. Not that the complainant’s case was necessarily unfounded. But in a culture that doesn’t treat domestic violence or women’s rights with much seriousness, it’s hard not to trust that the slightest loophole won’t be exploited.”

The political fallout

The Fish Bowl (http://jontyfisher.blogspot.com/2006/05/ancs-zuma-dilemma-as-i-had-thoug...):

“Many have written off Zuma's chances…but I'm not so sure. This is a man that is clearly not being judged by his populist support on his Western-style leadership credentials, but rather on the fact that he is ‘their man’. If he comes through these two trials unscathed, he may not count on the elite votes, but I would imagine he would still have much of his populist support intact.”

Yebo Gogo (http://americanafrican.blogspot.com/2006/05/zuma-acquitted-of-rape.html):

“So what does this mean for the country's politics? It's obviously a bit too early to tell, but this is the Internet, so I feel like I should have some comment. Zuma will walk away a free man, but his political history is likely done. He was, entering the trial, considered one of the nicest men in all of South African politics and a hero of the left because of his populist leanings. But even being found guilty, would the ANC still risk putting him up as president? Would a breakaway left-leaning political group (possibly a breakaway consisting of the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions)?”

The arrest of the 10 Egyptian activists has caused outrage in the Egyptian blogosphere and a campaign is already underway for their release. The campaign has been taken up throughout the African blogosphere with bloggers using “Googles Blog Bomb” to spread the word throughout the blogosphere. Anyone clicking on Egypt will go straight to the Free Alaa website.

Manal and Alaa’s Bit Bucket (Alaa’s and his wife’s blog) - (http://www.manalaa.net):

“Alaa and the rest of the group that was kidnapped yesterday, will be detained for 15 days. They didn’t go directly to the prison as we thought, but spent the night at the Khalifa's police station and are supposed to be transferred to the prisons now. The 3 women will go to El Qanater prison, as Tora prison where the rest of the 40 detainees are held has no section for women, and the men are supposed to join the rest and go to Tora prison, but some think that they will also be taken to El Qanater prison (which has sections for both men and women).”

Rantings of a Sandmonkey (http://www.sandmonkey.org/2006/05/07/alaa-arrested):

“Alaa, blogger, co-founder of the Egyptian blog aggregator Manalaa and democracy activist, got arrested today during a protest to support the Judiciary's branch fight for independence…The way it worked, the police made sure to press the demonstrators close to the Egyptian museum, where they cordoned them and wouldn't let them leave, while continuously hurling insults at them. The demonstrators tried to get the police to let them go for half an hour, but to no avail. The Police cordon then opened where a group of plain dressed police officers and thugs rushed in and started beating up the demonstrators and dragging them on the asphalt till they threw them in the police vehicles. The Police also made sure that none of the satellite news channels would be able to get video footage of what they did by not allowing the press to come close and keeping them away the entire time.”

Freedom for Egyptians (http://freedomforegyptians.blogspot.com/2006/05/egyptian-regime-is-getti...) provides some background to the arrests:

“Since the beginning of the year, the Judges Club in Cairo and Alexandria has started a nation-wide movement calling for an independent judiciary. The current judiciary system is ruled by the strong grip of the executive authority of the regime of Mubarak. The members of the Judges Club could not tolerate taking the rigging of the parliamentary elections in November/December as a normal procedure to fool the Egyptians and the world. When they tried to take their responsibility and uncover the rigging of the elections they were crushed by the regime and some of them were slapped on the faces in polling stations. The regime made it clear to the Egyptian people and to the judges that there is no will but that of the President.”

The Big Pharaoh (
writes that the Egyptian embassy in Washington DC has been bombarded with free Alaa and other activists emails and for further action he suggests:

“There is a blog dedicated to Alaa and the others who were detained during the demonstration on May 7th. As I stated before, the Egyptian embassy in DC got bombarded by emails from concerned average Americans. We are also suggesting you to contact David Welch, Assistant Secretary and head of the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. His email is: [email][email protected].”

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, www.blacklooks.org

* Please send comments to [email protected]