But given her many detractors, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is guarding her leadership strategy with vigour
Dlamini-Zuma could be forgiven for not yet wanting to publicly enter the leadership fray, even as her name’s liberally bandied about in the run-up to next year’s ANC electoral conference. But there’s still much to study within her references to her successes as a political leader.
While critics point to the dangers of an “aristocratic dynasty” that would continue to advance the contested interests of Jacob Zuma’s presidency – of both the party and the country – she knows she’s well supported.
Asked what she plans to do when her term as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) ends in the middle of this year, she smiles. “SA is my country and of course I’ll come back. I mean, I’m not banned! Neither am I in exile. I went into this job at the AU with a very defined time span.”
Given her reputation as a leader whose approach is to take one day at a time, this isn’t a surprising answer. A politician of wide-ranging experience, Dlamini-Zuma has served under every ANC President, from being Nelson Mandela’s Health Minister to Jacob Zuma’s Home Affairs Minister, with a decade as Foreign Affairs Minister for Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe in between.
She’s also keenly aware of the tightrope one walks when lobbying for the top job and has wisely refrained from making any statements about her political ambitions at home. This is despite revelations of the support she enjoys from the ANC Women’s League, the party’s mighty and muscular KwaZulu-Natal branch and from President Zuma himself.
The post Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma: a new number one? appeared first on DESTINY Magazine.