'Yes‚ I am marrying Jacob Zuma'

A 24-year-old Ballito woman is set to become former president Jacob Zuma’s seventh bride.

Nonkanyiso Conco confirmed to TimesLIVE that she and the elder statesman were set to wed.

“Yes‚ we are getting married‚ but that is all I can say. I need to consult before I give any interviews‚” she said.

She would not be drawn on their courtship and their relationship in general. Conco is a director of the Pietermaritzburg-based Nomkhubulwane Culture and Youth Development Organisation‚ aimed at protecting the cultural practices of young Zulu women.

Conco reportedly resides in the plush Ballito Estate Hilltop‚ home to some of the city’s most well-heeled residents. She would be Zuma’s youngest bride‚ at 52 years his junior. 

Zuma‚ who has always been a proponent of polygamy‚ is currently married to Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo‚ Thobeka Madiba-Zuma and Bongi Ngema-Zuma. He is divorced from Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and separated from Nompumelelo MaNtuli Zuma.

All the former president's brides...

The 24-year-old Conco will join the rank and file of six other woman betrothed to Zuma:

• He tied the knot with first wife‚ Sizakele Khumalo‚ in 1973 after he was released from Robben Island.
• In 1976‚ he married Kate Mantsho‚ mother to twins Duduzile and Duduzane. She committed suicide in 2000. The Sunday Times reported that she died as a result of an overdose.
• In 1982‚ he married Nkosazana Dlamini. The couple had several children and divorced in 1998.
• In 2008‚ he wedded Nompumelelo Ntuli. The two later separated after a purported poisoning plot.
• Two years later‚ in 2010‚ he married Tobeka Madiba.
• Gloria Bongi Ngema‚ an accomplished businesswoman from Umlazi‚ joined the wives’ club in 2012.

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