Alex Waugh of the UK's Rice Association said that "in terms of work undertaken throughout Europe and the USA on rice of multiple origins, Dr Tongesayi's reported results stand out as being orders of magnitude higher than normal".

BBC: Study of lead levels in rice under scrutiny

But most South Africans, while disapproving of multiple concurrent wives, enjoy their president's unabashed embrace of his Zulu origins, beliefs and traditions, of which polygamy is an accepted part, though people practise it less and less, not least because it is so expensive.

ECONOMIST: Jacob Zuma is still the old-style marrying sort