The government is “very, very confident” that Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will be elected to the powerful job of AU Commission chairwoman at the AU summit next week.
AU leaders will decide in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, whether to give a second term to the present chairman, Gabon’s Jean Ping, or replace him with Dlamini-Zuma.
International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane announced Dlamini-Zuma’s candidature on Wednesday.
She punted the former foreign minister as a “high-calibre cadre with extensive knowledge and experience of the AU and the African continent”.
She said President Jacob Zuma had met Africa’s 53 governments over the past few months to lobby support for SA’s candidate.
Dlamini-Zuma said she had been motivated to seek the job because “Africa’s time is now, not tomorrow”, and was committed to the emancipation of African women. - The Star