One Big Happy Family

Musa Mseleku and his four wives are the stars of a new reality show about polygamy, Uthando Nes’thembu. They let us into their unique world.

- Khatija Nxedlana

GROWING up he was told he could be anything he wanted to be – that he alone was responsible for defining the kind of man he would become.

And Musa Mseleku wanted to be a polygamist. Now, at the age of 43, Musa is living his best life and he wants the world to know it. Four wives and 10 children later, the KwaZulu-Natal property developer is on a mission to tell the country about the lifestyle he loves – and he’s getting tongues wagging in the process.

Musa and his four wives became an overnight sensation after the first episode of their reality show, Uthando Nes’thembu (Love and Polygamy), aired on Mzansi Magic.

The show follows Musa and his wives, Busisiwe (MaCele), Nokukhanya (MaYeni), Thobile (MaKhumalo) and Mbali (MaNgwane), as they navigate their way through the intricacies of their polygamous relationship.

Social media couldn’t get enough of it after the premiere – especially women users who questioned whether they’d ever be able to live their lives under the strict rules that come with being the mighty Musa’s wife.

Musa is a generous man who treats his wives to luxurious lifestyles yet he has a 5 pm curfew for all his better halves and each has to ask his permission to party or drink.

Still, after initial reservations, the four women seem to have adjusted and have developed respectful relationships with each other over time.

HE’S always wanted to be a polygamist, Musa tells us, sitting on the patio of Umdlalo Lodge, the upmarket hotel and restaurant he owns in Umtentweni, a resort town on the KZN South Coast.

Musa says it was his late grandmother, Phiwe Florence Mseleku, who told him he alone was responsible for his destiny.