Johannesburg - With more than 93 000 followers and some 1 200 posts on her Instagram account, first lady Thobeka Madiba Zuma can certainly be called a social media butterfly.
She may have used her most recent post to defend her husband President Jacob Zuma and raise doubts about ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, but the first lady’s account displays for the most part her love for her family and husband.
Hundreds of pictures of President Zuma with their children can be seen on her account, many with long and inspirational captions.
From birthdays, anniversaries, workout routines, fashion and visits to other countries, to pictures with many who visit their Nkandla homestead, she maps out the life of a first lady through her Instagram posts.
One post stands out. The image shows a young, fresh-faced 21-year-old Thobeka shaking hands with a full-bearded Zuma. This, she says in her caption, is the first photograph taken of the two on the day they met.
“It had to be destined for me to be on the other side of the counter as a banker and the rest is history,” she writes, followed by a long paragraph about their relationship standing the test of time and surviving storms.
That post garnered 2 387 likes and what the millennials call “InstaFame”.
Her Instagram account also carries numerous images of news reports in which she features.
One is a Sunday Times front page with the headline “Bank guns for Zuma wife”. Her caption follows with the words “when is this propaganda going to stop?”.
In the same caption she lists the questions sent to her by the Sunday Times and her responses.
In a separate post, she thanks television news channel ANN7 for “bringing good news to our people”, accompanied by a clip of a news report about breast cancer.
The Zuma family may have issued an apology for the first lady’s post on Friday in which she defends her husband, but the post is still up on her Instagram account with no mention of remorse for her actions.
Follow her Instagram account at firstladytzuma.