Key facts on Jacob Zuma

A former member of the ANC’s military wing, Mr Zuma rose to become head of intelligence in the party, a post that gave him leverage over allies and opponents alike.

Like Nelson Mandela, he was imprisoned on Robben Island for conspiring to overthrow white rule, spending 10 years in jail before going into exile.

Zuma was South Africa’s deputy president for six years before he was sacked in 2005 by Thabo Mbeki after being implicated in a graft trial that saw his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, convicted on fraud and corruption charges.

Zuma - the man: The ethnic Zulu from KwaZulu-Natal province earned respect as a peacemaker at home, mediating between the ANC and the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) at the height of violence in the early 1990s to head off a possible civil war.

President Zuma has received no formal schooling.

South African law and Zulu culture allow a man to take more than one wife, but critics says Mr Zuma is setting a bad example in a country with high Aids infection rates. Zuma has 20 children, some with women other than his wives.

Below are short profiles of Mr Zuma’s wives, past and present:

Sizakele Zuma: Fondly called MaKhumalo, Sizakele, 67, is Zuma’s first wife. She lives in his Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu Natal province. They have no children.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: Ms Dlamini-Zuma, 60, is South Africa’s home affairs minister and has also been health minister and foreign affairs minister. The two met in exile and have four children together. They were divorced in 1998.

Kate Mantsho-Zuma: Mantsho-Zuma committed suicide in 2000. She and Zuma had five children.

Nompumelelo Ntuli: Ms Ntuli, 34, married Zuma in a traditional ceremony in his homestead in 2008. They have three children.

Tobeka Madiba: Ms Madiba, 37, and President Zuma were married on January 4. They already have three children together.