{"id":12442,"date":"2012-07-16T00:51:41","date_gmt":"2012-07-15T22:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/07\/update-1-s-african-elected-first-female-au-commission-head\/"},"modified":"2012-07-16T00:51:41","modified_gmt":"2012-07-15T22:51:41","slug":"update-1-s-african-elected-first-female-au-commission-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/update-1-s-african-elected-first-female-au-commission-head\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE 1-S.African elected first female AU Commission head"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

* Dlamini-Zuma is diplomat, doctor, President Zuma’s ex-wife<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

* Bruising contest between candidates from Gabon, S. Africa<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

* Deadlock had prompted warning of divided African Union<\/p>\n

(Updates with quotes, details, background)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

By Aaron Maasho<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

ADDIS ABABA, July 15 (Reuters) – South African Home Affairs
\nMinister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected on Sunday to become
\nthe first female head of the African Union (AU) Commission,
\nending a bruising leadership battle that had threatened to
\ndivide and weaken the organisation.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Cheers broke out at the AU’s soaring, Chinese-built steel
\nand glass headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as
\nsupporters of the ex-wife of South African President Jacob Zuma
\ncelebrated her victory over incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“We made it!” a grinning Zimbabwean delegate shouted,
\nreflecting the strong support Dlamini-Zuma’s candidacy had
\nreceived from fellow members of the Southern African Development
\nCommunity (SADC). Ping, who had served in the AU post since
\n2008, was largely supported by French-speaking African states.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The appointment of South Africa’s 63-year-old home affairs
\nminister, who previously served as minister of health and
\nforeign affairs, will add to the global diplomatic clout of an
\nAfrican state which is already the continent’s largest economy.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

As head of the organisation’s executive arm, she faces
\nimmediate challenges as the AU tries to gain U.N. Security
\nCouncil backing for a military intervention in northern Mali,
\nwhere local and foreign al Qaeda-linked jihadists seized control
\nafter a destabilising coup in the southern capital Bamako.
\n\u00a0 Continued…<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

* Dlamini-Zuma is diplomat, doctor, President Zuma’s ex-wife * Bruising contest between candidates from Gabon, S. Africa * Deadlock had prompted warning of divided African Union (Updates with quotes, details, background) By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA, July 15 (Reuters) – South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected on Sunday to become the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-12442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}