/ 4 January 2010

Security tight at Zuma’s wedding

President Jacob Zuma is to gain his third first lady in a traditional Zulu wedding on Monday.

Zuma (67) will marry Thobeka Madiba (formerly known as Thobeka Mabhija) in a private family ceremony at Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal, the president’s office confirmed.

Security was tight during the wedding with journalists barred from getting closer to the president’s home.

‘We have deployed extra police officers to make sure that the event goes smoothly as planned,” said police director Phindile Radebe.

She said the event warranted extra policing.

Madiba (36) will be Zuma’s third current wife and his fifth marriage overall.

Zuma once told an 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.”

Thobeka Madiba

Business people, politicians and celebrities were among those who descended on Nkandla on Monday to wintness the wedding. In a statement on Sunday the presidency urged the media to stay away, as it was a “a private family ceremony”.

Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma

Zuma married Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma in Nkandla in 2007. The president other wife is Sizakele Khumalo, whom he married in 1973.

There were two further Mrs Zumas who are no longer with him. He divorced Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, now home affairs minister, in 1998. Kate Mantsho Zuma committed suicide in 2000, leaving a note describing her marriage to him as “24 years of hell”. Zuma is said to have more than 10 children, and possibly as many as 19.

Sizakele Khumalo-Zuma

Zuma has paid lobolo to the family of Madiba, described as a socialite from Durban, as custom demands. She has attended numerous official events with the president but it appears the wedding has been postponed until now because of Zuma’s work commitments.

Meanwhile, Gloria Bongi Ngema is understood to have presented umbondo (gifts) to the Zuma family last week, customarily a precursor to marriage. Originally from Durban, Ngema works for IBM in Johannesburg and has a son with Zuma named Sinqumo.

The M&G broke the story late last year that a reported R65-million expansion of the Nkandla residence was under way with new houses being built to accommodate Zuma’s wives.

Jeremy Gordin, Zuma’s biographer, said he was surprised how little attention Zuma’s latest wedding had received. “I find it interesting that there were all kinds of people making belligerent comments on his polygamy, but that died down after the election. People now seem to be raising their eyebrows less.”

He added: “Zuma is adamant about polygamy. It’s his right as a Zulu. But he only took one wife to Italy to meet the pope.” – guardian.co.uk