Johannesburg: Jacob Zuma's rape accuser faced a gruelling day of interrogation yesterday over her sexual history and an abortion she had after one of at least four rapes.

The Johannesburg High Court fell quiet with relatives and reporters leaning forward to catch every word as the HIV-positive woman related how she had been raped for the first time at the age of five.

She was shocked when Zuma's counsel, Kemp J Kemp, placed a copy of a rough draft of a book she was writing in front of her.

Questioned under a court ruling allowing details of her sexual history to be put before the court, she had just told Kemp that she considered herself a lesbian, although she had had sex with men. "Can I just say ... I find it disturbing that this private document is here and how relevant this is here?" she said.

"I have an idea how it came to be here, but I find it disturbing." Kemp pressed on, using the book and statements from witnesses to question her about her sexual experiences.

It emerged she had been raped three times as a child. She was first raped by a man in his early 30s. She had gone to have a bath at his house and he told her to take off her clothes. He raped her in his bedroom.

When she was 13 she was raped by a man who lived in her parents' house when her mother left early to go to the ANC offices.

She said she often went to sleep next to other people because she was scared of sleeping alone. While sleeping next to the man, she awoke with him on top of her. He was removing her underwear and penetrated her.

The court also heard of an incident in which she was kidnapped and taken to a house for sex with a man.

When he saw she was menstruating, he stopped. She later told the court the man had once declared undying love for her.

Kemp said the man had told the defence team this was with her consent but she denied this.

"I did not want to go in that car, I was crying and kicking and screaming."

At the same age she was raped by another man in the exile community.

Replying to Kemp's suggestion that these incidents were all with her consent and they were her boyfriends, she denied this and said: "Can I just say this. Any sex at that age is still rape, with or without consent."

When she came to South Africa in the 1990s she decided to enter the priesthood. While studying, she fell pregnant.

She had been living at the boarding master's house due to an illness which saw her having "attacks" which lasted for between 15 minutes and three hours. They included fainting.

One day she woke up and felt she had been penetrated. At some point she also had a smelly green discharge from her vagina. Due to her illness, her mother took her home.

They went to the doctor and she found she was pregnant.

She had an abortion at five months and her mother told her the foetus had the features of the boarding master.

Kemp said the pastor had told the defence team that the elders reported to him that the woman had had an abortion and also accused him (the pastor) of raping her.

She denied making this accusation.

Kemp also said she told the elders she was no longer interested in being a student or "in that dirty church" and she was leaving.

She also denied this statement.

She also denied accusing a Namibian student, who has since died, of rape. The court was told the student was expelled for this allegation.

She could not remember the incident and replied: "I never accused anyone in the seminary of raping me. Nobody at the college raped me except for that incident where I got pregnant."

The complainant was questioned at length about how many people she had had penetrative and non-penetrative sex with since she returned to the country. She was also asked to define the two and, in terms of the order, could write down the names of previous lovers.

Asked again how many lovers she had had, the woman said: "I have had sex with not more than five men, penetrative or not. And I have kissed all five of them," showing irritation for the first time during the trial.

The court was adjourned early after she said she was exhausted.

She accused Zuma of raping her at his Johannesburg home in November last year. He denies it.

Her cross-examination is expected to be completed today.

With acknowledgement to Jenni Evans, Amy Musgrave, Sapa and the Cape Times.