Highs, lows of Zuma years
ON TUESDAY Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairwoman of the African Union commission (AUC), will sit on the podium facing African heads of state attending the bi-annual AU summit in Addis Ababa for the last time. After four-and-a-half years at the helm of the organisation, Dlamini-Zuma is stepping down.
If all goes well and heads of state reach a consensus, her successor will be elected at the 28th summit, which starts this week with preliminary meetings.
Dlamini-Zuma returns to complicated politics back home in South Africa – though some say she never really left. She is considered one of the frontrunners to replace President Jacob Zuma as head of the ANC and eventually the country.
Her legacy and competencies have become the subject of much debate. Will her time spent in the prestigious AU position stand her in good stead in the succession race?
For millions of Africans, the AU is a distant organisation that holds meetings and drafts documents in Addis Ababa, but with little or no effect on the ground. Dlamini-Zuma’s task at the AU was to show that the organisation really matters.
Following her election in 2012, she vowed to turn the AU around and promote a “peoplecentred” organisation that would make a difference to ordinary Africans. Not an easy task altogether.
A cornerstone of Dlamini-Zuma’s plan was the launch of Agenda 2063 – her blueprint for a “peaceful and prosperous Africa”.
While there was limited communication on anything else she did during her term, Agenda 2063 was popularised through massive campaigns and roadshows.
Pretty much every AU official has a T-shirt or a hat with “Agenda 2063” branding.
But for now, this remains a blueprint and is largely a political project. It will be up to member states and her successors to implement it.
During her term, the former South African minister made enemies on many fronts at the AU. Her near-absence from several burning issues, such as ensuring free and fair elections and mediating in peace talks, has certainly tarnished her legacy at the AU.
Dlamini-Zuma was seldom seen on the spot when crises erupted, and rare was the interview in which she’d take a strong stand on current affairs in Africa. In fact, she gave very few media interviews on any issue.
She was also strongly criticised for not spending enough time at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. The decision to deliver a “State of the Continent” address in Durban, rather than in Addis Ababa at the end of 2016, was indicative of this.
Meanwhile, Dlamini-Zuma’s decision not to run for another term at the AU gives rise to questions about her commitment.
Four years is not a long time, and much of her term was spent elaborating the ambitious Agenda 2063 – a project that also has its detractors. Some say a 50-year plan is too far into the future and that long-term socioeconomic development shouldn’t be prioritised over more immediate issues.
And much work remains in uniting the various linguistic and regional blocs within the AU, which are still often at loggerheads.
However, many positive developments also happened at the AU during Dlamini-Zuma’s tenure. Her spokesman Jacob Enoh Eben told ISS Today that decisions around self-financing of the AU; continental integration, with the launch of an e-passport for Africans; and kickstarting important reforms are an integral part of her legacy.
She also “increased the visibility and reputation of the AU as a continental and global player,” he says.
Clearly, in some of these issues, DlaminiZuma did play an important role, but in many instances, it wasn’t hers alone.
For example, she prioritised the self-financing of the AU – an organisation that is still heavily reliant on outside donors, like the European Union. She emphasised this on numerous occasions, and strongly supported the plan – which was adopted by heads of state at the 27th Summit in Kigali last year – to finance the AU through a 2% levy on imports.
Yet this might have happened regardless of her support. The AU has long realised the importance of ensuring its autonomy, especially given the pressure of dwindling aid funding.
Before Dlamini-Zuma took up office in October 2012, expectations were high that she would be able to bring much-needed reform to the AU as an institution – much like she did in her portfolio of home affairs in South Africa.
It was hoped she could turn the organisation