Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma becomes first woman to chair African Union

When Jacob Zuma fell out with ex-president Thabo Mbeki and moved to oust him as ANC leader in 2007, she stood as Mbeki’s running mate for the ANC presidency.

But when Jacob Zuma won party polls and later become president, he kept his ex-wife in his cabinet — a rare Mbeki ally to avoid the axe.

“She is an astute politician, a veteran, the experience she acquired as foreign minister puts her in good stead to take over this role” at the African Union, said Keith Gottschalk of the University of the Western Cape.

Copyright 2012 AFP.

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