Quick facts

Birth date: April 12 1942. Birth place: Nkandla. Birth name: Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. Father chose his middle name, which means “one who laughs while grinding his enemies”. Father: Gcinamazwi Zuma, a police officer.

Mother: Nobhekisisa Bessie, a domestic worker. Schooling: No formal education as a child. His father died when Zuma was five years old. His mother took up employment as a domestic worker. Zuma had to help support the family from a young age. He set up a night school for himself and some of his friends. They paid a woman 25 cents to teach them.

Food: Oxtail is his favourite meal.

Languages: Other than Zulu and English, he speaks French, Russian, Portuguese, Swahili and Xhosa fluently, according to an official autobiography. Prison: He spent 10 years on Robben Island. Did not receive a single visitor as his mother could not afford the fare. On leaving the island, he started work in a pet shop. Friends: In exile — first in Swaziland and then in Mozambique — Zuma regarded former president Thabo Mbeki as his best friend. Children: He is said to have more than 20. Spouses: He is currently married to four women.