Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - African Union

African Union

In January 2012, Dlamini-Zuma sought to become the Chairperson of the African Union Commission by running against incumbent Jean Ping. In the first election, a deadlock in the voting as a consequence of an inability to secure a two-thirds majority of the vote meant that Ping's term was extended by six months.

An election on 15 July at the nineteenth session of the Assembly of the African Union, however, resulted in Dlamini-Zuma being elected over Ping after three rounds of voting in which she got 37 votes, or 60% in a race that was largely about Francophone states against Anglophone states, particularly in southern Africa. Prior to the vote, she also said that "I don't think the continent will be polarised. make sure they work with everybody, irrespective of where and who they voted for," after Chairman Thomas Boni Yayi warned of a divided union with undermined global credibility.

After the vote, Ping's spokesman, Noureddine Mezni, said he "has accepted the results of the elections and wishes Madame Dlamini-Zuma the very best...he expressed his readiness to co-operate with her to work together for the unity of the continent." Other congratulatory messages came from AU Chairman and Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi who said: "Now we have the African Union chair Madame Zuma, who will preside over the destiny of this institution." South African President Jacob Zuma said that her election "means a lot for Africa...for the continent, unity and the empowerment of women," while Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni sad that "she's a freedom fighter, not a bureaucrat or a diplomat."