South Africa President Jacob Zuma says his wife was raped

Johannesburg: South Africa’s President said on Monday that criminals broke into his rural homestead more than a decade ago and raped his wife, as he sought to explain a $23 million taxpayer-funded security upgrade ahead of elections.

Jacob Zuma said the culprits were “arrested, charged, convicted,” recounting a previously unpublicised event at his Nkandla homestead in KwaZuluNatal before he took over as President in 2009.

Mr Zuma did not say which of the four wives he had at the time was the victim. One has since committed suicide and he has divorced the African Union chairperson Nkosazana DlaminiZuma.

Mr Zuma has come under fierce criticism over the spending ahead of Wednesday’s election. He is expected to win a second five-year term despite the scandal.

A public watchdog in March found the president had unduly benefited from the renovations, which included a swimming pool, helipad and private clinic, and ordered him to pay back part of the costs.

“Why should I be charged for it if some people inflated prices?” he hit back on Monday.

He said that the issue had been stirred up by the media and by opposition parties.