Il reverendo Theunis Botha, capo del Partito Democratico Cristiano del Sud Africa, ha definito ieri il quinto matrimonio del presidente Jacob Zuma “un gigantesco salto all’indietro nei secoli bui”. Il presidente aveva già risposto a questa accusa durante un’intervista televisiva nella quale aveva dichiarato: “Ci sono tanti politici che hanno amanti e figli che tengono nascosti per poter pretendere di essere monogami. Io preferisco agire allo scoperto. Amo le mie mogli e sono fiero dei miei figli”. Le mogli che ha avuto, come si sa, sono per il momento cinque, delle quali tre ancora sposate con lui, e gli hanno dato complessivamente diciotto figli. Altre due fidanzate sono in attesa di convolare a giuste nozze.
Il reverendo Botha ha anche dichiarato allarmante il ritorno alle “credenze ancestrali”, che secondo lui sarebbero le vere responsabili dell’arretratezza del continente africano, erroneamente addebitata al colonialismo.
Zuma's wedding a 'step back into the dark ages'
The leader of the Christian Democratic Party has described President Jacob Zuma's traditional wedding on Monday as a "giant step back into the dark ages".
Zuma's wedding "to a woman he is reported to have already fathered three children with, and the alarming return to ancestral worship is a giant step back into the dark ages," said CDP leader Reverend Theunis Botha.
Zuma married his fifth wife, Thobeka Madiba, outside his homestead on Monday afternoon in a colourful traditional wedding which attracted scores of guests and media.
It was the same ancestral traditions that had plagued Africa in the past and that had kept it the continent in superstition and poverty, and not colonialism as some people believed, claimed Botha.
Botha is also acting chairperson of the Christian Democratic Alliance.
"Very little has been done since ‘independence' in the way of development, with few that do not rely on handouts, especially from the West," he said.
It was up to the churches to speak out about ancestral worship practices.
"Political parties doing so, when the churches are silent, are exposing themselves to undue criticism of being anti-black or racist," said Botha.
Zuma’s wives
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.”
Current wives
Name: Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo
Age: Sixties
Children: none
Married: 1973
Zuma met his first wife and childhood sweetheart, Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo, in 1959 and married her soon after his release from prison in 1973. She lives at Nkandla. They have no children but she looks after many of his other children, according to reports. While she attended his inauguration MaKhumalo, as she is affectionately known, is notoriously shy.
She is active in the community and Zuma has praised her, calling her "a wife, a friend, a sister and a mother to me". She is his oldest wife.
Name: Nompumelelo Ntuli
Age: 35
Children: two
Married: January 8 2008
Zuma's fourth marriage and second current wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli (MaNtuli) was a mother to two of his children, before she married him in 2008 at a traditional ceremony that received plenty of media attention in the run-up to Zuma's bid for the presidency. At 35, she is Zuma's youngest wife to date, and lives in KwaMaphumulo near Stanger. Her two children with Zuma are Thandisiwe and Sinqobile, aged seven and three-years-old.
Name: Thobeka Madiba
Age: 36
Children: none
Married: January 4 2010
The newest wife to date, Madiba, or Majhiba as she was formerly called in the press (her mother's surname), has acted in the capacity of wife for some time, appearing with Zuma's two other wives at his inauguration in May 2009 and at other events. She also has young two children with Zuma, and grew up in Umlazi where she went to school. She later studied at the Umlazi Campus of the University of Zululand where she graduated with a B.Com and worked at several companies in La Lucia.
She is seen as the most glamorous of his wives, known for her designer outfits and is more outgoing than the others, having made public appearances at a few development projects. They were betrothed for some time and were meant to marry in 2008 but the wedding was delayed due to Zuma's government responsibilities.
Previous Wives
Name: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Age: 60
Children: Four
Married: 1972, divorced 1998
Zuma's most famous wife, Dlamini-Zuma, aged 60, has been a respected Cabinet minister since 1999 and was unique in her popularity with both ANC factions of former president Thabo Mbeki and Zuma in the ANC. She married Zuma in 1972 and divorced in June 1998 due to "irreconcilable differences".
The couple had four children: Msholozi (26) Gugu (24) Thuli (23) and Thuthi (21). Their daughter, Gugu Zuma, is an actress in the popular local soapie Isindingo and made headlines when she married the son of Zimbabwe's opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC,) secretary general Welshman Ncube.
Dlamini-Zuma was health minister from 1994 to 1999, under president Nelson Mandela, then foreign affairs minister from June 17 1999 to May 10 2009, under presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Molanthe. She was moved to the position of Minister of Home Affairs in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma, her ex-husband, on May 10 2009.
Name: Kate Mantsho
Age: Died age 44
Children: Five
Married: 1976, died in 2000.
Mantsho, from Mozambique, ended her life in 2000 after a troubled marriage to Zuma. Kate Mantsho Zuma, Jacob Zuma's third wife, commits suicide. Kate gave the Reverend Frank Chikane a note which about barred Zuma from her funeral: "Strictly my dear children, my maternal family to attend. From the Zumas only Bro Mike and all the Mzobe family." In her suicide letter she also called her marriage "24 years of hell".
The couple had five children: Saady (b. 1980), twins Duduzile and Duduzane (b. 1984), Phumzile (b. 1989) and Vusi. She committed suicide on December 8 2000.
In the wings
Name: Gloria Bongi Ngema
Children: One
Married: Not yet
Another bride-in-waiting is Gloria Bongi Ngema. The two have already had a son.
Ngema visited Nkandla on December 2009 taking with her a traditional gift to the family -- a sign that lobola had been paid in full. Ngema, is also originally from Umlazi in Durban like Madiba. She works for IBM in Johannesburg and has a son with Zuma named Sinqumo, IOL reported.
It is not known when Zuma would tie the knot with Ngema.
Name: Sebentile Dlamini
Children: None
Married: Not yet
In 2002, Zuma paid 10 cows as part of lobola for Sebentile Dlamini, a Swazi princess and granddaughter of King Sobhuza III, IOL reported.
Leading his delegation then was Zweli Mkhize, the KwaZulu-Natal finance and economic development minister.
Despite the Swazi royal family asking Zuma to "clarify" his position on Sebentile, the princess is still waiting.
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