Outgoing African Union Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Saturday received a vote of thanks from South African Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane for the sterling work she did during her term of office, especially regarding gender equality and empowerment of women.
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Nkoana-Mashabane said: “On behalf of South Africa and on behalf of all the women of the continent… leaders on the continent have four-and-a-half years ago elected one of the best who happened to be the first female in more than 50 years to lead this very very important institution.”
In June last year African heads of state and government extended Dlamini-Zuma’s tenure by six months because elections to replace her in Kigali, Rwanda, were inconclusive.
Nkoana-Mashabane said during her tenure Dlamini-Zuma had introduced new ways of doing things at the AU, such as the retreat for foreign affairs ministers before every AU summit, which allowed for better preparation.
Agenda 2063, which is the AU 50-year plan to create the “Africa we want” and includes the free movement of people and goods and the creation of a continent-wide free trade area, was formulated during Dlamini-Zuma’s tenure. Another milestone was the launch of the campaign to end child marriages in Africa.
Nkoana-Mashabane said she and four other South African ministers were at the summit to support President Jacob Zuma, who would attend the meeting on Sunday which would evaluate progress so far on these goals and others which were part of Agenda 2063. Zuma would also participate in bilateral summits.
Heads of state and government would consider, among other matters, Morocco’s application to be readmitted to the AU after it had voluntarily pulled out of the AU’s predecessor the Organisation of African Unity in 1984, she said.
On South Africa’s stated intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nkoana-Mashabane said there was no change of plan, even though Nigeria had opted to remain committed to the Rome Statute. The ICC was initially considered the “last port of call” when African solutions had failed, but in recent times the ICC had been inadvertently elevated to the “first port of call”. South Africa believed that strengthening national institutions that support democracy was the better route than taking matters to the ICC.
She cited recent developments in The Gambia, where the Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas) intervened to allow the newly elected Adama Barrow to ascend to power after his predecessor Yahya Jammeh changed his mind and refused to hand over the presidency.
Asked whom she favoured to replace Dlamini-Zuma as AU chairperson, Nkoana-Mashabane said “personally” she would prefer that another woman took over, but that was just her personal wish given her background as an activist for women empowerment.
The five candidates vying for the position are Senegal’s Abdoulaye Bathily, former United Nations special envoy for Central Africa; Botswana’s Foreign Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi; Chad’s Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat; Equatorial Guinea’s Foreign Minister Agapito Mba Mokuy; and Kenya’s Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed. The elections are on Monday.
