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Jacob Zuma, South Africa 4th president, family Affairs
Jacob Zuma the husband of 3 wives : Khumalo, Ntuli and Mabhija, the father of 19 chidren and the president of 47,9 million inhabitants
Media view
By most counts, Zuma has been married five times. One marriage, to Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, ended in divorce in 1998. Another wife, Kate Mantsho Zuma, committed suicide in 2000.
Who will be the First Lady ?
Please click on image to enlarge it Zuma has been married since 1973 to his first wife, Khumalo, who lives at Zuma’s country home and rarely appears in public. He wed Ntuli, who is in her mid-30s and often attends high-profile soirees, at a traditional Zulu ceremony last year. Early this year, news broke that he had paid lobola — a sort of bride price, often given in the form of cattle or cash — to the family of Mabhija, a socialite in her mid-30s. But there was no confirmation of their marriage until this week’s ANC statement. His children range in age from infancy to older than 30.
Please click on the image to enlarge it Zuma’s first lady situation is not unique, though his counterparts on the world stage tend to be kings, not presidents. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is reported to have about four wives. King Mswati III of Swaziland is expected at the Zuma inauguration — most likely with one of his 13 or so wives on his arm. Source : Washington Post for text only
(Source : BBC - for text only) The 67-year-old is still married to his first wife Sizakele Khumalo, to Nompumelelo Ntuli, 34, whom he married in 2007, and to his most recent wife Thobeka Mabhija, described by the South African media as a 35-year-old "Durban socialite".
Another wife, Kate Mantsho Zuma, committed suicide in 2000, and he divorced Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in 1998, but she remains a close political adviser and has served as a minister in government.
(Source : The Wall Street Journal - for text only) Mr. Zuma’s embrace of Zulu traditions helped cement his popularity, particularly in the countryside. Badly treated under British and apartheid rule, and somewhat marginalized afterward, Zulus are South Africa’s largest ethnic group. Most are jubilant to see one of their own assume the highest office.
Please click on image to enlarge it Speaking Zulu, Mrs. Zuma, who goes by the name Sizakele Khumalo, described how her husband-to-be — as an impoverished boy who lived over the next hill — had pursued her. "He was easy on the eyes," she said, but she put him off until he was 20. Before they could marry, though, he was swept up by security forces and thrown into prison with future president Nelson Mandela. Though he had only a few years of schooling, he used to write her letters — first in Zulu, then in English, which he mastered in prison. "It was difficult to be apart, but we coped," she said.
After his release, they delayed some more, finally tying the knot in 1975. The price : 11 cows.
Other wives came later, including the future foreign minister, now divorced, and another wife who committed suicide, leaving behind a scathing note describing her time with Mr. Zuma as "24 years of hell." All told, says the first Mrs. Zuma, her husband has fathered 19 children that she’s aware of, though none with her.
Equal Treatment
The first Mrs. Zuma stuck it out, and defends the institution of polygamous marriage. "It’s a Zulu custom and if there’s respect between the husband and the wives and among the wives themselves, and if he’s able to treat us equally, then it’s not hard," she said.
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