Confirms he is father of Thandekile Matina Zuma
Zuma confirms that he has had a child, his 20th, with Sonono Khoza, daughter of his old friend and soccer tycoon Irvin Khoza. The child was born October 8, 2009.
I said during World Aids Day that we must all take personal responsibility for our actions. I have done so…I have done the necessary cultural imperatives in a situation of this nature, for example the formal acknowledgement of paternity and responsibility, including the payment of inhlawulo to the family…The matter is now between the two of us, and culturally, between the Zuma and Khoza families.
He also criticizes the media for naming the child:
Both the Child Care Act and the new Children’s Act also provides for the protection of children from exploitation. The naming of the child’s parents has essentially exposed her to the public, which has serious implications in the long-term for her, and amounts to the exploitation referred to in the Act, because the media is making money out of the matter…The media is also in essence questioning the right of the child to exist and fundamentally, her right to life. It is unfortunate that the matter has been handled in this way. I sincerely hope that the media will protect the rights of children.
Jacob Zuma born in Nkandla, South Aftica
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is born to Gcinamazwi Zuma and Nobhekisisa Bessie in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. His father dies at the end of World War II, after which his mother takes up employment as a domestic worker in Durban. Owing to his deprived childhood, he does not receive any formal schooling. He spends his childhood moving between Zululand and the suburbs of Durban, and by age 15 takes on odd jobs to supplement his mother’s income.