Disgraced South Africa’s ex president, Jacob Zuma has welcomed a baby boy by a 24-year -old woman purported to be his bride-to-be, Nonkanyiso Conco. T
Disgraced South Africa’s ex president, Jacob Zuma has welcomed a baby boy by a 24-year -old woman purported to be his bride-to-be, Nonkanyiso Conco. The baby was delivered at the Busamed Hillcrest Private Hospital, Johannesburg, by caesarean section on Thursday April 12, the same day the former president turned 76.
The new mother was listed in hospital records, obtained exclusively by TimesLIVE, as ‘Mrs Zuma’. Several well-placed hospital sources confirmed that the former president had visited his wife-to-be on Thursday when the baby was delivered. His platoon of protectors closed off a section of the maternity ward while he spent time with the woman who is 54 years his junior.
Conco confirmed that she was expected to become the former president’s seventh wife, but abruptly ended the conversation when quizzed about the birth of her child. She would not comment on their courtship and their relationship in general.
“Yes, we are getting married, but that is all I can say. I need to consult before I give any interviews,” she said.
Conco is a director of the Pietermaritzburg-based Nomkhubulwane Culture and Young Development Organisation, aimed at protecting the cultural practices of young Zulu women. Zuma, who has always been a proponent of polygamy, is currently married to MaKhumalo, Thobeka Madiba and Bongi Ngema. He is divorced from Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and separated from Nompumelelo MaNtuli Zuma. His second wife, Kate, committed suicide in 2000.
The birth of the child and news of the upcoming nuptials come as the elder statesman is embroiled in a slew of legal challenges, the most recent being his indictment on charges of corruption and racketeering relating to the arms deal. Zuma appeared briefly in the Durban High Court on corruption charges on April 6.
