A prominent South African politician has been convicted of hate speech after claiming that the woman who accused President Jacob Zuma of rape had a "nice time" because she stayed for breakfast and asked for taxi money.
Julius Malema, the leader of the African National Congress youth league, was ordered to make an unconditional public apology and pay 50,000 rand (£4,500) to a shelter for abused women.
Malema, 29, is a hugely divisive figure in South Africa. Though he does not hold public office, he attracts far more media attention than most cabinet ministers, and has been touted as a possible future president.
Zuma was acquitted of rape in 2006 after he insisted the sex with his accuser was consensual. He went on to become president last year.
Malema, an influential Zuma ally, made reference to the case at a gathering of students last year. According to court papers, he said: "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money."
A gender justice group said this statement was insensitive to those who had been victims of rape and would perpetrate rape myths. Sonke Gender Justice took Malema to the Johannesburg equality court, which ruled today that he was guilty of hate speech and harassment.
Magistrate Colleen Collis said: "This court is satisfied that the utterances by the respondent … amounted to hate speech. It clearly demeans and humiliates women … The uttered words constitute harassment as contemplated in the equality act."
Collis concluded her judgment: "Mr Malema, being a man of vast political influence, be wary of turning into a man that often speaks but never talks."
Mbuyiselo Botha of Sonke Gender Justice welcomed the decision. "This case makes it clear that our country's leaders need to be more responsible in their public statements and that civil society can and will hold them accountable," he said.
"We hope that this ruling will alert public figures to the potential repercussions of their words, both in terms of the impact that public statements can have in perpetuating gender-based violence and other forms of discrimination, and in terms of the legal implications."
A handful of Sonke supporters celebrated outside the court, carrying placards that stated "Only one in 20 rapes are reported" and singing "Malema is a Mickey Mouse". Malema, who was not present in court, said he would appeal.
The verdict was welcomed by the opposition Democratic Alliance. Its national youth spokesman, Khume Ramulifho, said of the remarks: "It showed Malema's disgraceful, sexist attitude, and he still continues to promote sexism and hate towards women.
"It is time the ANC took action and brought Malema to book. Malema, for his part, should unconditionally apologise for the damage he is causing."
Phillip Dexter, a spokesman for the Congress of the People, added: "His comments were an insult to women everywhere. Such irresponsible utterances show the inherent chauvinism, misogyny and muddled thinking that inform Julius Malema's rationale.
"We live in a country where violence against women is still a massive problem. As an individual that President Zuma saw fit to pronounce as 'worthy of inheriting the ANC', this ruling reflects poorly on the judgment of the president of the republic as well."
Malema is notorious for his incendiary personal statements. He recently said of rival politician Patricia de Lille: "Patricia doesn't look like a married woman. There's no normal man who can marry Patricia. If Patricia has got a husband, that husband must divorce Patricia and come and look for well-mannered and beautiful women in the ANC."
He has described the Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille as a "racist little girl" and said recently that she was "suffering from satanism".
Malema was again accused of hate speech last week after he led college students in singing the protest song "Shoot the boere, they are rapists." Boere translates as farmers in Afrikaans, the language of white South African descendants of the early Dutch settlers. Afrikaners and others accused Malema of inciting violence against whites, but the ANC said the song is symbolic of the anti-apartheid struggle.
In recent days Malema has also faced embarrassing media revelations over his financial affairs and lavish lifestyle. He retaliated by accusing journalists of a smear campaign: "We know [that] some of you here [and] the people you are sleeping with, unethical journalists sleeping with politicians for you to get information."
The City Press newspaper reported that the ANC youth league had issued a four-page document to media houses that appeared to be an intelligence report on one of its journalists, including personal banking details and the names of his children.
The youth league was instrumental in bringing Zuma to power last year and remains an influential powerbroker in the ANC.