AU chief Dlamini-Zuma to quit bloc amid S.Africa return rumours

African Union Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (AFP Photo/Filippo Monte

Addis Ababa (AFP) - African Union Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is to step down from the 54-member bloc when her post ends in July, her spokesman said Friday, amid talk of return to politics in South Africa.

"AU Commission Chair Dlamini-Zuma didn't submit an application for a second term when the deadline closed on Thursday, 31 March," her spokesman Jacob Enoh Eben said.

Her successor to the four-year post will be appointed during the next AU summit, due in July in the Rwandan capital Kigali.

The official list of candidates is expected to be revealed later this month.

Dlamini-Zuma, 67, a South African, was the first woman to hold the AU's top job when she was elected in 2012. She beat the incumbent, Jean Ping of Gabon, in a closely fought election over several rounds of voting.

An experienced diplomat, a veteran of the fight against apartheid and a doctor by training, she has served as health, interior and foreign minister in South Africa. Her former husband is South African President Jacob Zuma.

- 'Limited and often late' -

Speculation is already rife in the corridors of the AU as to her successor.

Algerian Foreign Minister, and former AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ramtane Lamamra, has long been seen a possible candidate.

But SADC countries, the regional organisation in Southern Africa, appear determined to keep the role, pushing the name of Botswana's Foreign Minister, 64-year old Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi. She was a journalist before joining her government's civil service.

Dlamini-Zuma's time at the AU has been given mixed reports.

Under her tenure, the AU launched a vast development proposal for Africa, "Agenda 2063", called for better economic integration of the continent, and hosted visits by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama.

"It opened the debate on how Africa we want for the next 50 years," Eben said, adding her tenure has "boosted the image" of the bloc.

- ANC leader hopeful? -

But others more cynical among the AU diplomatic corps accuse her of not having done enough, saying her rhetoric has often been late, and even then often not translated into action.

"It is a very good thing for the AU, she was never good here, she was never here anyway," said one diplomat, echoing sentiments often heard in AU corridors.

Oxfam's representative to the AU Desire Assogbavi said post offered a platform for views "to be heard across the continent", but that Dlamini-Zuma's views on key issues were "very limited and often late."

Some in South Africa, however, see her as a possible future leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, to replace her ex-husband.

"Her name has been raised as one of the potential presidential candidates for the ANC," said political analyst Prince Mashele, from Pretoria-based Centre for Politics and Research (CPR) think-tank.

"I think she can be president -- anyone can. I mean, if you can have a Jacob Zuma as president, I'm sure she would do a better job. But I don’t think she has anything special that would make me conclude she is the best candidate."

But she would also face a tough fight to jump from the AU top job to that of South Africa.

"She would have to lobby ANC factions and have a powerful backing within the party. You can be the most talented leader - but without the backing of a faction you will never be president. That's how it works in the ANC," Mashele added.