PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 28 — SUNDAY 29, APRIL, 2012
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Digest South Africa: Jacob Zuma takes 6th wife
Jacob Zuma at his traditional marriage with family and friends
Jacob Zuma during his wedding last Saturday
S
o u t h Africa's polygamous President Jacob Zuma last Saturday celebrated his sixth wedding in a second day of weekend festivities filled with traditional Zulu culture. The 70-year-old formalised his relationship with long-time fiancĂŠ Bongi Ngema on Friday with Zulu song and dance while dressed in leopard skins and carrying a shield surrounded by men in similar warrior attire. The businesswoman became Zuma's fourth wife in Nkandla, deep in the KwaZuluNatal countryside, where on Saturday she handed presents to Zuma's family at his homestead in a gift ceremony. The wedding is his third in just over four years and the second since coming to power in 2009 as the country's first president with multiple wives. In all, he has married six times and has 21 children. One of his wives has died, and another -- home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma -divorced him. With the state having to nearly double the spousal budget to more than R15 million after he took office, the presidency has stressed that Zuma will pay for the weekend celebrations and that his wives live in private homes. South Africa has no legally defined 'First Lady' but their benefits include a personal
Jacob Zuma's new bride
President Jacob Zuma's new wife, Bongi Ngema
Traditional women arrive at the wedding
secretary and researcher, domestic and international travel, equipment, and a daily allowance during official trips. 'The new Mrs Zuma had already been part of the spousal office machinery in terms of administrative support so there will be no changes due to the wedding,' said the
statement. The wives have no specific roles or responsibilities but they are expected to support the president at state and official functions, with Ngema accompanying him to France last year. While legal, polygamy is becoming less
popular in South Africa where modernity and Western lifestyles have taken root. A survey in 2010 found that nearly three-fourths of South Africans disapprove of polygamy. Among women, 83 percent disapproved. Source: MSN