ZUMA LEGACY: Four First Ladies & The First Lovechild

SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma is not an ordinary man. Neither is he an ordinary president for that matter, with 20 children and four First Ladies to his name, the first such record in the history of South Africa, if not in the history the presidency itself.

Jacob Zuma

The ink was still dripping on his rape acquittal when Zuma ascended to the presidency of South Africa, touted as an agent of political and economic reform in a country torn by a widening gap between the rich and the poor and one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world.

Zuma spoke the language of reform and repentance, and his critics were shunned.

During the course of the trial, South Africans were optimistic and forgiving, believing instead that the rape and corruption allegations brought against the ANC strongman were trumped up by his political opponents.

Now, more than a year into the presidency, with four first ladies on his side, Zuma has fired another salvo of controversy, this time allegedly fathering a child with his friend’s daughter Sonono Khoza in a scandal that has angered many South Africans.

The legal line is “nothing is illegal or unconstitutional” about what the South African president did, and his political morality seems out of question. Instead, he has the audacity to challenge the way newspapers have covered the scandal.

According to Sowetan, Zuma is aggrieved by the manner in which South African newspapers have covered the story:  “The issue is that of a constitutional principle with respect to the violation of the rights of all those involved. This was done with a total disregard of the Constitution, which protects all citizens regardless of who they are or of the positions they occupy,” said Zuma’s  spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.

Zuma is understood to have fathered his 20th child with Khoza, the daughter of a friend and businessman Irvin Khoza in October 2009.

Either South Africa is reinventing the concept of political morality and public responsibility among its leaders, or something is seriously wrong with the presidency and nation just hasn’t woken up to it.

Short URL: http://investigativezim.com/?p=2475

Posted by Tawanda Kanhema on Feb 3 2010. Filed under POLITICS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry