Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis (CPRA) –Pretoria CPRA Daily Briefings Week 27

This briefing note from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) summarizes a daily meeting held on July 18, 2012, in Pretoria. The primary focus of the session was the election of South Africa's Home Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as the head of the African Union (AU) Commission and the potential implications of her leadership.

• On July 15, 2012, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's Home Affairs Minister, was elected as the head of the African Union (AU) Commission, succeeding Dr Jean Ping of Gabon. This followed a period of six months of uncertainty after the 18th AU Summit in January 2012, where neither candidate achieved the required two-thirds majority vote.
• Several factors contributed to Dr Dlamini-Zuma's victory, including a desire among AU members to avoid further uncertainty, the inability of sanctioned countries (Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Madagascar) to vote, the absence of Dr Ping's supporters President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and President Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, unity within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and a call for unity by AU chairperson Boni Yayi of Benin.
• The election is historically significant because Dr Dlamini-Zuma is the first woman to hold the position since the creation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and she represents one of Africa's major powers, breaking a previous ban on 'big countries' standing for the role.
• Dr Dlamini-Zuma faces several immediate challenges, including divisions within the AU, acrimony resulting from South Africa's aggressive campaign tactics—which led to perceptions that South Africa 'bullied' its way into the position—and the need to address bureaucratic malaise within the AU.

APA

Zounmenou, D., Atta-Asamoah, A., Motsamai, D., Dzinesa, G. A., Joala, R., Kok, N., & Warries, T. (2012). Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis (CPRA) –Pretoria CPRA Daily Briefings Week 27. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/18July2012.pdf

Chicago

Zounmenou, David, Andrew Atta-Asamoah, Dimpho Motsamai, Gwinyayi A. Dzinesa, Refiloe Joala, Naomi Kok, and Tarryn Warries. Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis (CPRA) –Pretoria CPRA Daily Briefings Week 27. Institute for Security Studies, 2012. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/18July2012.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{zounmenou2012conflict, author = {Zounmenou, David and Atta-Asamoah, Andrew and Motsamai, Dimpho and Dzinesa, Gwinyayi A. and Joala, Refiloe and Kok, Naomi and Warries, Tarryn}, title = {{Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis (CPRA) –Pretoria CPRA Daily Briefings Week 27}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2012}, month = jul, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/18July2012.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }