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I didn’t know until now that South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma, an ethnic Zulu, has three wives and that polygamy is common in parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal, though only the first wife is legally recognised.
We now have this information because it has been announced that a 44-year old South African businessman is marrying four women, aged between 22 and 35, later today. It seems he has paid ten cows for one wife, eight cows for two others and seven cows for the fourth.
What fascinates me is not that a man can keep four wives and, presumably, make them happy but that the bride-prices were different.
Who sets the price? And how do the seven-cow wives feel about being worth less than the other two?
These are good questions!
.
I didn’t know until now that South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma, an ethnic Zulu, has three wives and that polygamy is common in parts of Kwa-Zulu Natal, though only the first wife is legally recognised.
We now have this information because it has been announced that a 44-year old South African businessman is marrying four women, aged between 22 and 35, later today. It seems he has paid ten cows for one wife, eight cows for two others and seven cows for the fourth.
What fascinates me is not that a man can keep four wives and, presumably, make them happy but that the bride-prices were different.
Who sets the price? And how do the seven-cow wives feel about being worth less than the other two?
These are good questions!
.
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