Man convicted of whisky assault on S.Africa’s Zuma

A South African racehorse owner was found guilty Wednesday of assaulting President Jacob Zuma after he spilled whisky on the leader at a horse race last year.

Daryl Peense admitted in Durban Magistrate’s Court that he spilled his drink as Zuma passed below his balcony at the Durban July, the country’s largest horse race, but said it had been an accident caused by people pushing to get a view of the president.

However, one of Zuma’s bodyguards told the court he had seen Peense deliberately pour a tumbler of whisky and water over the president’s head, missing him only because an alert guard used his jacket to shelter Zuma.

Peense, who testified that he was drunk at the time, will be sentenced on September 7.

Prosecutors said he would likely escape jail time.

“It’s a probability that he will be fined,” prosecution spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson told AFP.