MADALA Thozamile Pikoli believes he has the answer to marital problems for men who have more than one wife.
“The trouble is wives don’t care about each other.
“That’s why I choose from the same family. Blood is thicker than water,” said the 92-year-old madala from Ndlovini in Port Alfred.
Thozamile has had five wives.
He has 20 children and more than 30 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He was married to two sisters at the same time. After they died, he married three other women but has divorced two of them, and now has only one wife. One of his wives was also his wife’s cousin.
Thozamile’s much younger wife, Lingeka Zisile (62), said she did not have a problem marrying Thozamile and there were no fights while the other wives were still alive. “We loved each other so much and I don’t regret marrying the same man as my sister and my cousin.”
In his long life, the madala has only ever been to hospital to visit sick children and once because he had a sore knee.
The madala has bad news for smokers and drinkers. “Stay away from booze and tobacco,” he said.
He also doesn’t eat fatty food and only eats vegetables he grows on his farm.
“I like African vegetables and samp because that’s what I grew up with. I eat some of the things that are grown these days but I don’t like them,’ said Thozamile.
Every day the madala still walks 45 minutes to the farm where he grows his vegetables.
He has no problem with his blood pressure or diabetes.