South African diplomat and doctor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected yesterday to become the first female head of the African Union Commission, ending a bruising leadership battle that had threatened to divide the organisation and had been deadlocked since last year.
Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa’s home affairs minister and an ex-wife of President Jacob Zuma, defeated incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon, who had been at the helm of the commission, the AU’s steering body, since 2008. Dlamini-Zuma (63) who has previously served as minister of health and foreign affairs, had to undergo three voting rounds before Mr Ping (69) was finally eliminated.
– (Reuters)