Dlamini Zuma’s tears in Parliament
AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has denied that the AU was seeking impunity for African leaders such as Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta. AU Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has denied that the AU was seeking impunity for African leaders such as Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Ooutging Home Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, called on South Africans on Wednesday to be “all-weather Africans” – regardless of whether prospects for the continent were good or bad.
“Whether it is raining or the sun is shining, it must not be that when it rains we want our umbrellas back – that we say we don’t want to be Africans any more,” she said as she bade farewell to her colleagues in Parliament.
Dlamini Zuma is to take up her position as chairwoman of the AU Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, next month.
“Never before have African children faced a future that is so full of promise and potential and, at the same time, with huge challenges,” she said.
“The challenges are multi-faceted, they need collective leadership and the love of our African people.”
Articulating her mission to forge a united continent during a special sitting at Parliament, she reflected on the words of the founders of African unity, including wisdoms from the late Samora Machel, the first president of a democratic Mozambique, and Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.
“We were told by many leaders – not least Enoch Sontonga when he wrote our national anthem, ” Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika”. It does not say bless only one [state]. It says bless all of Africa,” she said.
Moved to tears at times, Dlamini Zuma reflected on her 18 years in the cabinet, having first been appointed minister of health by then-president, Nelson Mandela, in 1994.
Saying she looked forward to meeting her new team at the AU, and working as part of a collective, Dlamini Zuma thanked opposition parties for their input.
“We were all very excited to be part of a collective effort for creating a non-racial, non-sexist democratic South Africa [which] did not only fall on the shoulders of the ANC but – as enjoined by our constitution – is the responsibility of South Africans from all communities,” she said.
Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, paid a heartfelt tribute to her colleague and comrade.
She warned Dlamini Zuma’s new colleagues to be prepared to keep up with “one of the hardest working people I know”, also with a sense of humour “which will have you falling off your chair”.