Those following this burning issue may have noticed a discrepancy in the reporting: South African media have, in the main, put the figure at five, while overseas the consensus is three.
So which is it? Why both, of course: the devil lies in the small detail of whether the reports are about marriages (five in total) or spouses (three current).
The Mail & Guardian’s Verashni Pillay helps clear things up in a piece published yesterday afternoon. Here’s the skinny on all the merry wives of Zuma (plus one or two waiting in the wings):
Confused about exactly how many wives our president has? We round up the facts on the women in President Jacob Zuma’s life.
On Monday Zuma married his fifth wife, Thobeka Stacey Madiba, formerly called Mabhija in the press, at a traditional ceremony at his KwaZulu-Natal homestead of Inkandla. She is his third current wife. Zuma is said to have about 18 children with various women.
Zuma once told a television interviewer: “There are plenty of politicians who have mistresses and children that they hide so as to pretend they’re monogamous. I prefer to be open. I love my wives and I’m proud of my children.”
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