Those who came before us, our forefathers, did not agree on many things, this anyhow, there are some things in which they agreed, one of these is the fact that – to put it in local terms – “something must kill a man.” That one saying sounded too general even for them and so they chose to reduce these things into two subclasses which, they said, must kill a man, women and alcohol.
While some argue that alcohol is the biggest destroyer of the two if not taken to moderation, former South African President Jacob Zuma chose his toxic, and guess what he chose -tides- , women. A controversial man in his own right, Zuma is one man who was polygamous and proud of it, he will probably go down in history as one of the Presidents who had the highest number of wives.
With seven women having shared his second name in his lifetime, Zuma surely did know how to play his cards both in his political and private life.
Zuma’s first wife Makhumalo
We always know that “the first” always gets the most authentic deal in anything, that is, the first person to buy limited edition Nikes, or the first person to buy a tesla car ever always had the attention of the company. Well, Zuma’s first wife Makhumalo is the one lady who was there with him through it all. Their story is one that would attract a good audience as a Netflix original.
Their relationship started in 1959 and it was smooth nautical for almost four years until their relationship got to their first test in 1963. This was after Zuma was arrested (you probably know this story already) and taken away for 10 years up to 1973 when he was released. These two were married shortly after his release.
Rocky Marriage begins
A politician and a rebel in his own right, Zuma did not last long after the marriage before he was separated again from his wife, this time he went into outcast leaving his wife behind. It was while there where the relationship between the two got the first blow. He met and was involved romantically with fellow ANC member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who he married after two years as his second wife. This automatically made Makhumalo the first wife in this polygamous marriage.
Did Zuma’s first wife Makhumalo have children?
The information in the public domain is that Makhumalo never had any children with the plagued former President.
Real name and age
The former first lady was born on March 2, 1940 and as of the date of the writing of this article is 82 years of age. Her full name is Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo but many know her as Sizakele MaKhumalo Zuma.
Role in government
Zuma’s first wife Makhumalo was the lucky woman who was chosen by the former head of state to be the first lady from the time he became president in 2009 to 2014 when he replaced her with Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma, one of his other wives.
