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Politics: President Zuma takes fifth wife

South Africa’s controversial president Jacob Zuma has married his fifth wife, 38-year-old Thobeka Stacey Mabhija, at a traditional ceremony in his native Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Zuma, a member of the ethnic Zulu group, is married to two other women, Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo, who is in her 60s, and Nompumelelo Ntuli, aged 35. He has also had two other wives, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, from whom he divorced in 1998, and Kate Mantsho from Mozambique, who committed suicide in 2000 after 24 years of marriage. Zuma is also said to be engaged to two other women, although no date has been set for their marriage.

Polygamy is legal in South Africa and is a common practice in some communities. However until Zuma’s ascent to power it was rarely spoken about. The president is famously quoted as saying: “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.” Zuma is believed to have fathered 19.

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