South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini was yesterday acquitted of rape by a High Court judge, who set aside the conviction and six-year sentence imposed on him by a magistrate in May.
Aside from a long sojourn in prison, Mr Ntini, the first indigenous black South African cricketer to be selected to play for the national side, until his successful appeal faced social ostracism in a society clamouring for "zero tolerance" towards rapists. His acquittal came in the midst of a growing campaign against rape and in the wake of an amendment to the law compelling the courts to sentence rapists to life, except where there are cogent reasons for not doing so.
Ruling in favour of Mr Ntini, the judge found that there were "too many deficiencies" in the state's case and that "the probabilities were overwhelmingly against the version of the complainant", a 22-year-old housekeeper.
One sign of the campaign for tougher action against rapists was a recent decision by the parliamentary committee which monitors abuse of women to summon a judge to account for the "lenient" sentence of six years which he delivered in a much-publicised case involving the rape of a teenage girl by her father.
Later, after an intervention by the chief justice and the president of the constitutional court in which they defended judicial independence, the parliamentary committee modified its language, explaining that it intended to invite the judge to give his perspective on the case rather than call him to account.
Another indication of the anti-rape offensive was disclosed three days ago when deputy president Mr Jacob Zuma told parliament that the South African Law Commission was examining the implications of "chemical castration" of compulsive rapists who are undeterred by more orthodox punishments.
Earlier, Ms Suzanne Vos, an Inkatha Freedom Party deputy, declared during a strongly worded speech on rape: "Men are the problem, so why are we not prepared to consider the one thing that really terrifies them?"
Later, President Thabo Mbeki, whose administration has adopted a much stronger stance on law and order than that of Mr Nelson Mandela, told parliament: "One rape that occurs is a rape too many. Through our concerted action, we must make that clear to all who carry out the terrible crime."
However, he questioned a police finding that only one of every 36 rapes is reported, a finding whose shocking implications are manifest when one considers that 56,000 alleged rapes were in fact reported to police last year.
Noting that the police had not been able to justify their assertion, Mr Mbeki said: "The tragedy is that many of us have taken these purely speculative figures as fact [and thus harmed] the fight against the terrible crime of rape".
Mr Mbeki, under pressure to supply the anti-AIDS drug AZT to thousands of rape victims in the country, said on Thursday his government was investigating whether the drug was safe to use.