South Africa Supports President's Multi Wives & Bastards

Polygamous politicians don't come cheap, South Africans are discovering. Taxpayers there are coughing up more than $2 million a year to support President Jacob Zuma's three wives and 20 children. And that hefty bill doesn't include the African National Congress head's own annual salary of $308,000.

Opposition parties have condemned the spousal budget -- revealed on Wednesday following a parliamentary request by the Democratic Alliance (DA) party -- as "exorbitant." They point out that the president's family receives more than double the amount claimed by his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki. (Individually, though, Zuma's wives are a better deal than Mbeki's sole spouse, Zanele, who cost South Africans $1 million a year.)

"It is quite shocking that the taxpayers have to fund the lifestyle of the president," Phillip Dexter, spokesman for the Congress of the People party, told the Eye Witness News Web site.

The travel and accommodations bills for all of the wives are covered by the state, according to Collins Chabane, a minister in the presidency. They're also handed laptops and cell phones, and they all have access to their own private secretary and researcher. These government employees help the women "pursue their own careers and interests," Chabane told the South African Times.

He noted that Zuma's first wife, Sizakele Zuma, is engaged in community work "relating to agriculture and food security," and that Thobeka Zuma, the president's third wife, takes part in community health projects.

Zuma's ever-growing brood also receives a glut of benefits. They're entitled to 60 domestic economy-class flights a year. Children under 8 are provided with child minders. And these perks apply to all of the president's kids, including those born out of wedlock, such as the baby he recently admitted to fathering with 39-year-old Sonono Khoza. See Chick's GOING HOME.