Jacob Zuma, Polygamist: Who's His First Lady?

Wall Street Journal:

NKANDLA, South Africa -- Now that 67-year-old Jacob Zuma is about to become president, the question is: Who will be First Lady? And Second Lady? And will there be a Third Lady?

Mr. Zuma, who led the African National Congress party to an overwhelming victory in last week's elections, is a onetime goatherd who enthusiastically embraces his Zulu roots. That means, for the first time, an avowed polygamist will be occupying the Cape Dutch-style presidential palace in Pretoria. Mr. Zuma has been married four times and currently has two wives and one fiancée waiting in the wings.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[martiniandabotoxchaser]

When is he going to have time to be president? He has to put out the trash nightly in four households.

[duncansdad]

First Lady, Second Lady, Third, etc.
Why is it the men who always get mulitple partners. Doesn't seem fair, does it.

[ericmiami]

Maybe we'll find out if Romney ever makes it to the presidency.

[magic3400]

Is this opposite, opposite marriage?

[Cacaoatl]

I've never understood the American prejudice against polygamy. For most of human history polygamy was the culture norm, not monogamy. Anthropological studies show that polygamy is permitted in 80%-85% of societies, people in those societies are monogamous only because they don't have the material wealth to afford multiple spouses.

[FrankenPC]

"A man and a woman". Changing that to a "man and a man" or a "woman and a woman" is hard enough. Can you imagine the apocalypse that would happen if we had a "man and women"? Or "woman and men"?

Reminds me of the "spam spam eggs spam" skit from Monty Python

[peggyhill]

Er, the FIRST wife??

[S1m0n]

This is a question that's as old as the pharoahs.

[Billy Hell]

@ram1952 and Deparis. Thanks for those comments folks...being South African I was wondering how the heck I was going to respond to that article and you two have done so really well.

One has to take into account that for many many years the right and opportunity for most of our indigenous people to exercise their traditions and culture was limited. There's been a resurgence of pride in that and yeah, it does carry with it some dangers to for example, gender equality. On the other hand though some excellent family traditional values are finding renewed expression.

Articles like this of Michael Allen reflect deep seated racial prejudice and pander to the views of right wing extremists and white supremacists across the globe.

In South Africa we still have massive racial divisions to overcome and this does nothing at all to help the white minority come to terms with the changes in the political power structures. It just reinforces the prejudices most have grown up with and helps to perpetuate them in the youth and hardens the hearts and minds of black South Africans. We desperately need nation building and to find common unifying sources of pride.

[antaeus]

None in the described scenario can properly be termed "lady."

Just to be precise.

[Billy Hell]

From whose perspective? The vast majority of South Africans will certainly not agree with that bigoted prejudiced view.

[paixa3]

You enjoy making assumptions? I think you are wrong. Actually, there could be a plus side of this story. If there is a very official state dinner, you take the beautiful charmer. If there is a little less formality, you take the cute entertainer. If you have a really lower even, you take the good looker who may a little on the brash side.

Get the point?

[MochasMom]

Let's call Warren Jeffs. He'll know the answer.

[Nobrun]

Two 1st ladies. It's not complicated.

[kshawNCvoter]

i watch alot of nollywood movies and the 1st wife has seniority over the rest and is recognized more than 2nd,3rd, etc.....but who cares, they will work it out, i guess.

[ram1952]

This is the kind of journalism that has taken the U.S. into the dark ages of information while the rest of the world has moved on. Why is WSJ bothered about who is the first lady/ladies of South Africa? The article reeks of hostility to Zuma, who is the elected President of South Africa. Does the the writer has the b*lls to write a similar story about the "friends" of the U.S. such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates etc? The WSJ is languishing in the middle ages. IMHO, it is publishing these ridiculous and sensational stories in order to deflect attention from its role as enabler of the worst global economic crisis.

[Abrafo]

Yeah I agree with you. I'm wondering why WSJ did not write about the President of Togo who was in power for 40 years, had numerous wives and over 100 or so children.

[Deparis]

Why does it matter who the "First Lady" is? Why do we assume they give the same importance to it as we do here in this part of the world? It is their culture to have many wives and we should respect that. There are more countries around the world where polygamy is prevalent than there are countries that adhere to monogamy.

[peterg76]

It matters to journalists because whenever something happens at the presidential level that they want to ignore, they will want to be ready to report on something trivial.

[TimDanMick]

How do they do it in Utah?