The 21-year-old daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma is set to marry Eswatini’s King Mswati III out of love, according to a spokesman for the last absolute monarchy in Africa. Nomcebo Zuma’s engagement to the king was officially announced earlier this week, concluding the annual eight-day reed dance ceremony, a traditional rite of passage for young women.
King Mswati III, 56, is currently in a polygamous marriage with 11 wives and has been married a total of 15 times. Alpheous Nxumalo, a spokesman for Eswatini, rejected any claims that the marriage would serve as a political alliance, emphasizing that “love knows no age” and can occur between people of any age, regardless of constitutional norms.
Jacob Zuma, who served as South Africa’s president from 2009 to 2018, and King Mswati are already connected through marriage. Critics argue that King Mswati, who has ruled by decree for 38 years, lives in opulence while many of his citizens face poverty. Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, has a population of 1.1 million and suffers from one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection.