After putting up a defiant effort, Jacob Zuma finally caved in late Wednesday night when he announced his resignation as head of state.
This did not only put an end to his reign as president, but it also ensured that we will have a new first lady.
Jacob Zuma is a well known polygamist who has been married no less than six times.
While Zuma had four wives, not all of them officially held office as first ladies.
Zuma’s first wife, Sizakele MaKhumalo Zuma, whom he met in 1959, was his preferred choice to hold office as first lady in 2009.
MaKhumalo is the founder of the Sizakhele MaKhumalo Zuma Foundation.
When Zuma’s first term as president came to an end in 2014, so did Makhumalo’s tenure as official first lady.
For his second term, Zuma chose his youngest wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma, whose term officially came to an end on the 14th of February 2018 when her husband resigned.
Although two of his other wives, Thobeka Madiba - Zuma and Bongekile MaNgema Zuma did not officially hold office as first ladies, they were still seen and referred to as such.
Madiba-Zuma can be credited for leading a Unicef-backed campaign to raise awareness about child brides; she also pushed for more to be done to stop illegal marriages to minors happening.
These four ladies officially relinquished the tittle of first lady to Cyril Ramaphosa’s wife Tshepo Motsepe, sister of billionaire Patrice Motsepe.
