Zuma may take fifth wife
2008-02-17 14:25
Johannesburg - ANC president Jacob Zuma may
take a fifth wife, just weeks after tying the knot with a
fourth, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Zuma, 65, married 33-year-old Nompumelelo Ntuli, the mother
of two of his children, in early January.
The Sunday Times reported that he had paid lobolo for two women, 35-year-old Thobeka Mabhija and Bongi
Ngema, the mother of his 3-year-old son, and was expected to
marry one of them soon.
Zuma has previously married four times and is believed to
have 18 children. Traditional Zulu culture allows him to take
more than one wife.
Zuma's spokesmen were not immediately available to comment.
The paper said Zuma's present and future wives were arguing
about who would be first lady should he become president of
South Africa in 2009, but said his brother, Michael, was unaware
of such a dispute. "There could be a dispute among the women
which I'm not aware of, but this issue has never been discussed
in the family," he told the paper.
Zuma is facing charges of corruption, fraud, money
laundering and racketeering, and will stand trial in August.
He and his legal team are in Mauritius, trying to block the
handing over to the National Prosecuting Authority of certain
documents in connection with the corruption charges.
Zuma was acquitted in a rape trial in 2006, when he
justified having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman by
saying he had taken a shower afterwards.