African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a charity fundraising banquet honoring former boxer Mike Tyson on Wednesday in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, he withdrew after being criticized by South African women’s groups.
South Africa is a country with one of the highest rates of rape. About 50,000 rape cases are reported each year in South Africa, almost 150 per day. Women's rights groups estimate that only one in nine rapes are reported to police. Zuma himself was found not guilty of raping a family friend two years ago. Tyson served a three-year sentence for the 1991 rape of an 18-year-old beauty queen in Indiana.
Women’s groups had called on the ANC leader to withdraw from the event. Earlier Wednesday, the One in Nine Campaign, a group of women’s rights organizations, had called “the pairing of ANC leader Zuma and Tyson…particularly distasteful and abhorrent.” Carrie Shelver, of People Opposing Women Abuse, called Zuma's withdrawal a good step. "It may be, and it seems to us, that pressure placed on him in the media may have swayed him," Shelver said. Reporters arriving at the event were handed a statement from organizers saying Zuma "had been called away on urgent ANC business."
Organizers promised Tyson would make a statement at the banquet denouncing violence against women. However, Tyson did not address the issue. He took to the stage and made a brief statement about how pleased he was to be in South Africa and thanked the organizers for their hospitality. He then returned to his seat next to the ex-wife of former president Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who he befriended some years ago in New York. The master of ceremonies, Carol Manana, did make comments supporting women's rights and the eradication of violence against women. Manana is a television sports presenter and survivor of domestic abuse. An auction of Tyson items was to benefit children's organizations.
Both Zuma and Tyson are seen as fighters who have survived harsh upbringings to become powerful popular figures. Both have had run-ins with the law, and have poor records when it comes to women's rights. The 41-year-old boxer, who infamously took a bite out of rival Evander Holyfield's ear, also was accused of abusing his former wife, actress Robin Givens.
Zuma, who is facing corruption charges, said during his rape trial that the woman had been wearing a skirt, which he interpreted as inviting his sexual advances. Zuma has apologized for his statements during his trial, but recently earned more criticism from women's groups when he took a second wife. Polygamy is in line with some South African traditions. Zuma's "statements prior, during and post rape trial reveal his patriarchal beliefs on men and women's roles and rights in South Africa," the statement from the One in Nine Campaign said.
Tyson, once called the "baddest man on the planet," will tour Soweto on Thursday and be a celebrity commentator at a boxing event on Saturday.
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