Reality television star and presenter Nonkanyiso “LaConco” Conco has opened up about how she fell in love with former president Jacob Zuma.
She revealed on her Instagram stories that she was raised in a shack close to Palm Ridge in Johannesburg and that she did not think it was bad to be a squatter camp resident.
“It was so clean, and she [my mother] cooked every meal with love. As a child, I saw nothing bad,” she wrote.
“My mother is not a woman of many words, but I saw how she was content and comfortable as a single mother and how hustling to provide for us was important to her.”Â
LaConco went on to say that on June 16, 2015, she had purchased her first car and was employed as a journalist in Durban.
An era of airports and hotels
She received an invitation to a Pietermaritzburg march at that time, where it was declared that women who choose to remain virgins should not be coerced or mistreated.
She clarified that she was dating Zuma in 2016 and that they were living in a bubble, adding that others could tell she was in love.
“His circle felt my presence too; some did dig and find my pictures, and some waited until he was ready to introduce me. I was in my era of airports and hotels every week.
“Sometimes I would see him for 30 minutes, and he would be fine. This time of my life was a test of being loyal to my values and principles.”
After paying Lobola for LaConco, Zuma gave her an engagement ring, which she claimed made people talk a lot because they wanted to know who the lucky guy was.
She enrolled in a culinary studies course in 2017 because she wanted to be a woman who knew how to plate food for her family and practise good kitchen hygiene.
Zuma loved me loudly
“Staying a virgin was a personal choice; I was never a maiden who kept it for marriage or a husband. After he paid lobola, I never felt the pressure.
“When I was ready for the baby dance, it happened. His position never phased me out of my position in his life; I never questioned it because he showed me.
“He loved me loudly behind closed doors, and that intimidated many to date.”
Following their engagement, LaConco gave birth to Zuma’s son, Sakha. However, the lovebirds later separated.
Afterwards, she disclosed on public platforms that she had not anticipated being the only parent for her son.