Jacob Zuma Biography: Children, Wife, Salary, Cars, Education, House, News, Age, Net Worth, Wikipedia, Photos, Spouse

Biography

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, addressed professionally as Jacob Zuma, reigned as president of South Africa from 2009 till his resignation in 2018.

He is a renowned South African politician, businessman and former President of South Africa.

Born in Nkandla, South Africa, on April 12, 1942, Jacob Zuma joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1959.

After serving a term in jail for his involvement with a militant wing, he topped the party’s ranks and became its president in 2007, two years before his election as president of South Africa.

A controversial politician, Jacob Zuma has been involved in several legal scandals associated with corruption and racketeering.

He is also a polygamist with 20 children. Following attempts by the ANC to chase him from power, Jacob Zuma announced his resignation from the presidency in February 2018.

Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma: History, Bio, Photo
Wiki Facts & About Data
Full Name:	Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma
Stage Name:	Jacob Zuma
Born:	12 April 1942 (age 82 years old)
Place of Birth:	Nkandla, South Africa
Nationality:	South African
Parents:	Nobhekisisa Zuma, Geinamazwi Zuma
Children:	Duduzane Zuma, Mxolisi Zuma, Duduzile Zuma, Edward Zuma, Thuthukile Zuma, Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube, Msholozi Zuma, Thandekile Matina Zuma, Phumzile Zuma, Sinqumo Zuma, Nhlakanipho Vusi Zuma, Thandisiwe Zuma, Manqoba Kholwani Zuma, Sinqobile Zuma, Thuli Zuma
Height:	1.68 m
Siblings:	Michael Zuma, Muthukabongwa Zuma, Joseph Zuma
Spouse(s) • Wife:	Gloria Bongekile Ngema (m. 2012), Thobeka Stacy Mabhija (m. 2010), Nompumelelo Ntuli (m. 2008), Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma (m. 1982–1998), Kate Mantsho (m. 1976–2000), Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo (m. 1973), Nonkanyiso Conco (m. 2018)
Occupation:	Politician • Businessman
Salary:	N/A
Net Worth:	$20,000,000

Early Life

Born on April 12, 1942, in Nkandla, a part of South Africa known as KwaZulu Natal (once Zululand), Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a controversial figure in South African politics.

He lost his father, a police officer, when he was only 4 years old, and to help his family after his father’s death.

He did several odd jobs to bring in money while his mother was employed as a domestic worker.

With no time for school, he taught himself how to read and write.

Influenced by a trade unionist family member, Jacob Zuma joined the ANC, a political party that stood against the country’s practice of apartheid—or racial segregation—and other discriminatory policies in the late 1950s.

Also, the government banned the ANC and other opposition groups around this time, so Jacob Zuma had to keep his membership secret.

Career

Mandated to go underground, the ANC, which had long been a nonviolent group, developed a militant wing in the early 1960s. Known as Umkhonto we Sizwe, the new militant group undertook acts of sabotage against the government.

Jacob Zuma joined the group in 1962 and was arrested the next year with 45 other members and soon was convicted for conspiracy. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, he served his term in then non-famous Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was also imprisoned for many years.

After his release in 1973, Jacob Zuma continued working for the ANC and took an essential role in building the underground organization’s infrastructure in KwaZulu Natal.

Two years later, he went into deportation living in several different African nations. he remained consistent with the ANC and joined the organization’s National Executive Committee in 1977. Holding several ANC posts over the next decade, he was honest, consistent and hard working.

After the ban on the ANC was released in 1990, Jacob Zuma returned to South Africa. He helped the party talked with the existing government led by F. W. de Klerk about political prisoners and the return of exiles. In his native KwaZulu Natal, Jacob Zuma also worked to end the violence there.

While he failed in his 1994 campaign to become premier of that province, Jacob Zuma is credited with establishing lasting peace in the region and became a member of the province’s Executive Committee of Economic Affairs and Tourism that year. Within his political party, he won the position of national chairperson of ANC and the party’s chairperson position for the KwaZulu Natal.

Rape and Corruption Charges

Chasing his political career, Jacob Zuma was appointed executive deputy president of South Africa by Thabo Mbeki in 1999, after Thabo Mbeki won the presidency. As part of his vision for the country, Thabo Mbeki created a special unit—known informally as “the Scorpions”—to investigate corruption.

Later that year, the South-African government announced that it had reached a deal to buy 29 million rands worth of strategic arms—planes, boats, helicopters and submarines. This deal has haunted and scared Jacob Zuma for years.

He and other members of the government were interrogated when financial irregularities were discovered. Initially cleared in a 2001 report, Jacob Zuma faced corruption charges, though those charges were dropped in 2003.

Jacob Zuma‘s legal woes unfolded in 2005 after his financial advisor, Shabir Shaik, was arrested for corruption and fraud.

He was again charged with corruption for taking a bribe in connection with the 1999 arms deal. As a result, he was fired by President Thabo Mbeki.

In December 2005, Jacob Zuma was charged for raping a woman in his home. He was not found guilty. He stood on trial in Johannesburg for several months in early 2006.

During the trial, Jacob Zuma was criticized for his ignorance about the transmission of HIV/AIDS. His accuser was HIV positive, and Jacob Zuma said that they had sex without protection and that he showered after having sex to avoid getting the virus.

It was big news for a country that has been battling an HIV/AIDS epidemic. After the judge ruled that the sex was consensual, Jacob Zuma was acquitted of the charge in May.

At the end of 2006, the corruption charges against Jacob Zuma were thrown out by a judge. However, the door was left open for charges to be filed against him in the future. Free of legal challenges, Jacob Zuma was soon campaigning for the presidency of the ANC.

He took on former friend and president Thabo Mbeki for control of their political party. Thabo Mbeki was a moderate politician who steadily helped grow the country’s economy, one of the strongest in Africa, though some saw him as aloof and removed from the people.

South African Leadership

In contrast to Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma positioned himself as a man of the people, his triumph over early struggles making him an appealing figure to many South Africans. He also capitalized his history as a guerilla fighter to show himself as a man of action, using the song “Bring Me My Machine Gun” as his anthem.

When Jacob Zuma defeated Thabo Mbeki in December 2007, it was seen as a sign of impending change for South Africa. Strongly supported by the unions and some communist party officials, he was considered likely to move to the left from the centrist positions of Thabo Mbeki, according to a report from the Pretoria News. It created some concern over the country’s economic future.

In 2009, Jacob Zuma was elected president of South Africa, defeating Kgalema Motlanthe, his deputy president. He was reelected in 2014, despite mounting criticism that his administration had failed to improve the nation’s economy or effectively battle corruption.

Resignation

On February 14, 2018, Jacob Zuma announced he was stepping down as president of South Africa. The announcement came after ANC called for a no-confidence vote in the president and publicly demanded his resignation.

“The country should lose no life in my name, and also the ANC should never be divided in my name,” he said during a nationally televised political address. “I have therefore decided to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect.”

The ANC had been trying to overthrow Jacob Zuma for months. In December 2017, the party elected former union leader Cyril Ramaphosa to be its new president, though Jacob Zuma afterwards rejected the forcing of ANC members to quietly step aside.

Education

Jacob Zuma falls among the African leaders who had no formal education.

He learnt reading and writing himself.

Personal Life

Jacob Zuma is a Zulu polygamist who got married 7 times. He married his first wife, Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo, in 1993. She gave him no children.

He later married Nkosazana Dlamini, but they got divorced in June 1998.

His third wife, Kate Mantsho, committed suicide in December 2000. She left 5 children behind.

In January 2008, he married Nompumelelo. Two years later, he married Theobeka Stacie Madiba.

On April 20 2012, he married Gloria Bongekile Ngema.

In Oct 2018, he married his seventh wife, Nonkanyiso Conco.

Awards and Honors

• Nelson Mandela Award for outstanding leadership from the medical university of South Africa, 1998.
• Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the United Kingdom,2010.
• Imo Merit Award,2017 October.
• The University of Zululand, Honorary Doctor of Admin 2001.
• The University of Fort Hare, Honorary doctor of literature /letter,2001.
• Medical University of Southern Africa 2001, Honorary Doctor of philosophy.
• The University of Zambia, Great East campus 2009, Honorary Doctor of Law.

Children

Jacob Zuma has 23 children, namely;

1. Duduzane Zuma
2. Mxolisi Zuma
3. Duduzile Zuma
4. Edward Zuma
5. Thuthukile Zuma
6. Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube
7. Msholozi Zuma
8. Thandekile Matina Zuma
9. Phumzile Zuma
10. Sinqumo Zuma
11. Nhlakanipho Vusi Zuma
12. Thandisiwe Zuma
13. Manqoba Kholwani Zuma
14. Sinqobile Zuma
15. Thuli Zuma

Net Worth

Even though he had to resign with so much allegation placed on him, Jacob Zuma had a good salary to write home about.

Being one of the highest-paid and determined politicians in South Africa, Jacob Zuma has accumulated an estimated net worth of $20 million.

Social Media

The former South African President uses the social media too. Jacob Zuma can be reached in Instagram using @presjgzuma.