the corner office

Ronnie Kasrils is facing the wrath of the ANC Youth League who want to investigate his involvement in the whole Zuma affair. Kasrils is hedging his bets a little, and released a statement, saying inter alia:

"This is clearly stated in my affidavit. It is clear from my affidavit, which was requested by the prosecution and made available to the defence, that I did nothing to aggravate the situation, I did nothing that was prejudicial to Jacob Zuma and I was not in any way part of any conspiracy. I am not a significant part of the sequence of events."

He continued: "I wish to quote the salient statement from my affidavit which is as follows: 'I explained to her that I was not in a position to take up this issue since I was concerned that to do so would politicise the matter.

"I informed her further that I was not in a position to give her any advice and that she should do what she felt was correct in the circumstances.'"

Not wanting to politicise the issue is a noble goal, and maybe I just have outdated notions of right and wrong, but my advice for Ronnie Kasrils is this: the next time a woman phones you and says she was raped, you're entitled to give her one piece of advice: 'Rape trials are traumatic experiences, and you should be prepared for what will happen. Having said that, if he raped you, the bastard should be behind bars. Call the cops'.