JOHANNESBURG — South Africa gained its third first lady Monday when President Jacob Zuma married Tobeka Madiba, his fifth marriage and third concurrent spouse. With another fiancee in the wings and rumors about possible future engagement, the country may have five or more first ladies before Zuma’s presidency is over.
Zuma’s polygamy sits uneasily with the ruling party’s commitment to gender equality — and has been criticized in the past by women’s rights and AIDS activists. But despite the disquiet in some quarters, Monday’s wedding passed without media controversy.
Reporting focused on the huge crowd that tramped through mud to join the wedding celebrations; the large bed reportedly delivered to Zuma’s rural mansion on the eve of the nuptials; and reports that the 67-year-old president, clad in animal skins and white tennis shoes, fell while performing the Zulu wedding dance.
