African Union elects first girl chief

By Tom Walsh, for CNN

July 16, 2012 -- Up to date 1204 GMT (2004 HKT)

South African House Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma attends the African Union summit on July 15, 2012 in Addis Ababa.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is South Africa's house affairs minister
• She could also be the ex-wife of South African President Jacob Zuma
• She needed to declare a two-thirds majority to win the election

(CNN) -- The African Union has elected Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to steer the 54-nation bloc after a hotly contested election.

The 63-year-old South African house affairs minister is the primary girl to carry the publish and is the ex-wife of South African President Jacob Zuma.

Sunday's election, which came about in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, follows a stalemate in January that left 69-year-old incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon in energy after neither facet may protected the mandatory two-thirds majority.

The run as much as the election in large part break up the continent in two, with West and Francophone Africa firmly at the back of Ping, at the same time as Zuma's opposite numbers within the Southern African Construction Group firmly sponsored her bid.

Challenges are inclined to come briefly for the brand new head of the AU as she offers with the aftermath of new coups in Guinea Bissau and Mali. Ping was criticized as being gradual and useless in his reaction to closing year's coup in Cote D'Ivoire and the revolution in Libya.

Zuma is a extra "professional, extra responsible and more adept" particular person than Ping, stated Mehari Maru with the Institute of Safety Research in Addis Ababa, however warned it will most probably take months for a metamorphosis in management technique to take place.

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