You might have read this week about South African President Jacob Zuma having fathered his 20th child. Perhaps it came as no surprise; the difference between 19 and 20 is not all that great.
The shock surrounding the most recent birth was not that Zuma has one more child, but that the mother is not one of his wives. In fact, she’s the daughter of a close friend of his.
But there are now reports tthat Zuma has married the woman, Sonono Khoza. That would make five marriages and four wives for the president, since one wife has died. And he has admitted to fathering the child.
Zuma’s adventures make John Edwards look like a Cub Scout. Before his election as president, Zuma was acquitted in a rape trial. But in the course of it, he admitted to having unprotected sex with a woman who was HIV-positive. He infamously said he took a shower afterwards to avoid infection.
After that, popular South African cartoonist Zapiro began always drawing Zuma with a shower nozzle over his head. Cameraman Peter Rudden and I interviewed Zapiro when I recently visited South Africa. With a guy like Zuma running the country, Zapiro has a lot of material to work with all the time.