*ANC leader Jacob Zuma, who was found not guilty of raping a family friend two years ago, cancelled his scheduled appearance at a charity fundraising banquet Wednesday honoring former boxer Mike Tyson after receiving criticism from women's groups in South Africa.      

       Tyson, who served a three-year prison sentence in 1991 for the rape of an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant, remains on the bill and is scheduled to tour Soweto today. He is also due to serve as celebrity commentator at a boxing event on Saturday.

       Organizers promised Tyson would make a statement during the banquet denouncing violence against women. Mark Jakins, owner of the casino and hotel were the banquet was scheduled to be held, acknowledged many athletes have been "tinged by controversy," but that organizers were "focusing on Mike Tyson's credentials as a boxer."       

       Zuma, who is currently facing corruption charges, had planned to be the keynote speaker at the banquet, where an auction of Tyson items were to benefit children's organizations, reports the Associated Press.

       In a country with one of the highest rates of rape, the presence of Zuma and Tyson was too much for women's groups in the area. Earlier Wednesday, the One in Nine Campaign, a group of women's rights organizations, had called "the pairing of Zuma and Tyson ... particularly distasteful and abhorrent."      

       Zuma said during his rape trial that the woman had been wearing a skirt, which he interpreted as inviting his sexual advances. The politician has apologized for his statements during his trial, but recently earned more criticism from women's groups when he took a second wife.