South African President 'fathers 20th child with friend's daughter'

London, Feb 1 (ANI): South African President Jacob Zuma is said to have fathered a lovechild with the daughter of chairman of football World Cup's organising committee.

According to the Sunday Times newspaper, the offspring, a girl, is Zuma's 20th child. He already has three wives and believed to have had fathered a number of children out of wedlock.

The girl, named Thandekile Matina Zuma, was born in October to Sonono Khoza, 39, the divorced daughter of Irvin Khoza.

The paper said that the Khoza family was not happy about the liaison -Khoza is six years younger than the president - and a delegation from the president had visited them to discuss inhlawulo, the customary Zulu damages payable when a child is born out of wedlock, reports the Telegraph.

Zuma had last year defended himself against accusations that polygamy was "a step backward" or unfair to women in a discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"People interpret cultures in different ways," he said.

"Some think that their culture is superior to others, that's a problem we have in the world.

In South Africa, he added, "we follow a policy that says you must respect the cultures of others. That's my culture. It does not take anything from me, from my political beliefs and everything, including the belief on the equality of women". (ANI)