Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma has been acquitted of raping a family friend.
Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma in the dock during the verdict today. AP Photo/John Hrusa/Pool
"I find that consensual sex took place between the complainant and the accused," Judge Willem van der Merwe told a packed Johannesburg High Court in a verdict that was broadcast live on national television today.
Mr Zuma's rape trial has fanned tensions in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), where he remains a widely popular figure and was until recently seen as the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki in 2009.
The verdict keeps alive the political hopes of a man once seen as the country's next president.
More than 2,000 pro-Zuma supporters staged a noisy demonstration outside the Johannesburg courthouse, the latest in a series of protests attesting to the grassroots popularity of Mr Zuma.
The anti-apartheid veteran (64) had pleaded not guilty to raping his accuser at his Johannesburg home last November. But his lawyers said he did have consensual sex with the woman - a 31-year-old AIDS activist.
Conviction for rape could have brought a jail term of up to 15 years.
Mr Zuma was hit with the rape case following a separate corruption scandal last year that prompted Mr Mbeki to sack him as the country's second-highest official.
He is due to go on trial in July on the corruption charges, which he has denied and described as part of a shadowy political plot by his enemies in the ANC to end his presidential hopes.