The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the apology by ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma for having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman.

COSATU has repeatedly urged everyone to abide by the ABC rules to prevent being infected by HIV - Abstain, Be faithful, Condomise. We regret the fact that Jacob Zuma broke these rules and we agree with Judge Willem van der Merwe that "It is totally unacceptable that a man should have unprotected sex with a person other than his regular partner and definitely not with a person who, to his knowledge, is HIV-positive".

COSATU however fully accepts Jacob Zuma's apology and his admission that he "should have been more cautious and more responsible". We applaud his commitment to join the war against Aids, a pandemic that affects one in seven adults in South Africa and threatens the lives of countless thousands unless we unite to defeat it, and we look forward to campaigning together with him to win this war against HIV/AIDS.

Statement issued by COSATU, May 10 2006

Source: Friends of Jacob Zuma website

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