Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa seeks to unseat Jean Ping as Africa Union head

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (l) and Incumbent African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping (r). PHOTO/File

South Africa on Tuesday made a last-ditch effort for its candidate to head the African Union Commission one week before the bloc votes in what may augur a changing of the guard on the continent.

South Africa Foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane at a meeting in the capital Pretoria urged regional counterparts to pick her nation’s female candidate, Home Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as African Union chief on the grounds of gender parity and regional fairness.

“The African Union has a policy of alternating senior positions between men and women but has not been in a position to do this with the chair of the commission,” Nkoana-Mashabane told foreign ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

” The SADC is in a position to field a formidable candidate that meets both these criteria,” she said.

Ms Dlamini-Zuma had sought to unseat incumbent Jean Ping from Gabon in January elections during the bloc’s summit. The vote ended in a stalemate.

The upcoming poll is a battle for control between the bloc’s traditionally dominant French-speaking members, and English-speaking countries. The outcome may see a shift of power on the continent toward the anglophone side, though chances are slim Ms Dlamini-Zuma will succeed.

South Africa is especially keen for more influence as it increasingly speaks on behalf of Africa in international fora like the UN Security Council and BRICS, the world’s emerging superpowers Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The African Commission, the executive head of the 54-member bloc, has never had a woman chairperson.