Nonkululeko Mhlongo was the mother of President Jacob Zuma’s two daughters and she was well respected in the family, a relative of the president said on Thursday.
“She is our mother. She visits Msholozi’s [Zuma’s clan name] home during functions. She was there in December. I don’t understand why people make noise about this issue,” said Mike Zuma, the president’s younger brother.
He was reacting to reports that the president had fathered two daughters aged 12 and seven with a Pietermaritzburg businesswoman.
“The children are known. The mother even attended Zuma’s wedding with MaNtuli,” said Zuma.
News of the children came barely a month after it emerged that Zuma had fathered a girl out of wedlock with Sonono Khoza, the daughter of soccer boss Irvin Khoza.
‘We are tired of this behaviour now’
“Journalists must leave Zuma alone. They must stop discussing his private life. We are tired of this behaviour now,” said Mike Zuma.
The stories about Mhlongo’s children with Zuma invaded the privacy of both Zuma and the children, he said.
“I don’t want to say anything about the issue of the children with MaMhlongo. What I want to stress is that the president deserves respect.”
The issue should be discussed only by members of the Zuma family. When is Zuma going to have peace with his family? His personal life
is not for public consumption,” he said.
Mhlongo was not available to comment.
She has been quoted as denying that Zuma is the father of her two children.
Zuma (67) wed his fifth wife Thobeka Madiba earlier this month, two years after his marriage to Nompumelelo Ntuli. He married Sizakele Khumalo in 1973.
His first wife Kate Mantsho Zuma committed suicide in 2000 and he divorced Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is Home Affairs Minister, in 1998.
He is engaged to Gloria Bongi Ngema, from Durban, whose family presented umbondo [gifts] to the Zuma family at the end of December.
Important speech, weak president
Zuma is on Thursday evening set to deliver the most important speech of his presidency thus far, but it comes at a time where politically he, as president, has never been weaker.
Anger at ‘big daddy’ Zuma grows
Zuma will tell the nation how he plans to stop the scourge of job losses, up the matric pass rate and give feedback on the national health insurance. He will also emphasise that government officials, including government ministers, will face action or even dismissal if they don’t deliver the goods. After a recession year that threatened to cripple government’s plans to deliver services to people, Zuma needs to reassure the nation that everything will be OK.
Recent revelations about his love child forced several of his constituencies to tone down their generally unconditional support for him, making him politically weaker than ever before during his presidency.
Many of his supporters, both inside and outside government, are disappointed with his style of leadership, which is consultative but indecisive. His second apology for his sexual conduct came last week — the first was during the rape trial of 2006. It was accepted by most people but dented the support that he received from ordinary South Africans and ANC members. – Sapa and M&G reporter