First woman elected to head African Union Commission

July 17, 2012: Doctor and diplomat Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa won Sunday’s vote to become the first female head of the African Union (AU) Commission. Ms. Zuma, who is South Africa’s home affairs minister, defeated the incumbent, Jean Ping of Gabon, in the vote that took place on Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the summit of the 54-member African Union (AU).

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the election of Dr. Zuma and congratulated her on being the first African woman chosen to lead the regional body, his spokesperson said on Monday. “The Secretary-General looks forward to working closely with Dr. Zuma on peace and security issues, as well as on achieving the Millennium Development Goals and promoting sustainable development in Africa,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson added in a statement.

Meanwhile Vatican Radio spoke with Günter Simmermacher, editor of southern Africa’s Catholic weekly The Southern Cross, on Monday and asked about the significance of Dlamini-Zuma’s election as head of the AU Commission. “It’s quite significant,” he said, “that a woman should be leading the party in a country where patriarch is still very much the norm.”

With regard to her qualifications, Simmermacher told Vatican Radio that “she has a very good record as a minister in the South African cabinets starting in 1994, with the cabinet of Nelson Mandela where she was a health minister.”