Zuma will take another bride - family

Published Dec 29, 2009

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President Jacob Zuma was set to marry his fifth wife, a relative said in Nkandla on Tuesday afternoon.

Inkosi Bhekumuzi Zuma said Zuma would tie the knot with Thobeka Madiba next Monday.

He said Zuma's other fiancee, Gloria Bongi Ngema from Durban, had presented "umbondo" gifts to the Zuma family on Monday. Umbondo is the last Zulu traditional ceremony before the wedding. It is done after Ilobolo has been paid. It was not known when Zuma would tie the knot with Ngema.

Zuma married Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, his third wife, two years ago during a traditional wedding at his Nkandla home.

Thobeka Madiba has attended many official events with the president.

The president was legally married to Kate Zuma, who died in 2000, and Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Dlamini-Zuma and the president divorced in 1998.

Zuma's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, refused to comment on the upcoming wedding, saying it was a family affair.

Approached for comment during Zuma's Christmas party in Nkandla on Tuesday, Zuma's aide Zizi Kodwa also declined. On Monday, Kodwa said he was not aware of the ceremony. He said he was in Cape Town and he would be in a position to know whether the wedding would take place later. - Sapa

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