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

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

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/african-union-chief-dlamini-zuma-not-run-second-101800309.html

SOUTH AFRICA: DLAMINI-ZUMA TO STEP DOWN FROM AU AHEAD OF POSSIBLE ANC LEADERSHIP BID

The African Union’s chairwoman is to step down in July amid speculation she could take over from her ex-husband Jacob Zuma as the head of South Africa’s ruling party.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who previously served as home and foreign minister in South Africa, will not seek to renew her leadership of the continental organization, which she has led since 2012, Reuters reported. Dlamini-Zuma’s spokesperson, Jacob Enoh Eben, said the decision was personal and did not give any further details.

Dlamini-Zuma was married to the embattled South African president for 26 years until 1998 and remains on good terms with her husband, whom she served under as home minister between 2009 and 2012. Zuma survived an impeachment motion in the South African parliament on Monday and the African National Congress (ANC) has given the president its full backing. This came after a ruling from South Africa’s highest court that Zuma had failed to uphold the constitution after ignoring a 2014 report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela ordering him to pay back some of the costs of state-funded upgrades to his Nkandla homestead, which cost an estimated 246 million rand ($23 million at the time).

http://europe.newsweek.com/south-africa-dlamini-zuma-step-down-au-ahead-possible-anc-leadership-bid-444892?rm=eu