JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) –
South Africa’s polygamous President Jacob Zuma married for the sixth time on Friday, taking his long-time girlfriend Bongi
Ngema as his newest bride and fourth current wife in a private ceremony at his rural home.
his traditional wedding to Tobeka Madiba, his fifth wife, at the village of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal, January 4, 2010.
Ngema, an activist and former information technology worker, is
well known in South Africa and has already accompanied the president on foreign visits.
The ceremony raised few
eyebrows in a country where polygamy is legal and an integral part of Zuma’s Zulu culture.
The two had a traditional
Zulu wedding and “the bride and groom later participated in the traditional competitive celebratory dance,” the presidency
said in a statement.
Zuma has 21 children, including a seven-year-old son with Ngema.
The president is also
married to Sizakele Zuma, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma and Tobeka Madiba-Zuma. They all attended the ceremony.
His marriage
to Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma ended in divorce. Another wife Kate Mantsho-Zuma committed suicide in
2000.
There is no official position of First Lady in South Africa. The presidency said none of the wives had a
constitutional role or received any state funds.