Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has proved her mettle

Seldom in South African politics has there been a figure as enigmatic as Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

She is a woman who once sparkled with confident accomplishment as a minister, standing out among her colleagues for her various successes in the health, home affairs and foreign affairs portofolios.

Now, at least when it comes to media attention, she is muted and appears almost sullen about her public appearances.

There are those who might interpret her latest persona as the result of heavy pressure from her ex-husband, President Jacob Zuma, who has effectively anointed her as his successor as ANC president and, therefore, as president of the country.

Another view is that she realises her constituency – the rural, the poor, the disadvantaged – does not get its news (and therefore its views) from the mainstream media.

She concentrates on talking to those potential voters out of the media limelight, promising them the ANC will deliver them to the Promised Land of Radical Economic Transformation.

So, it was thought-provoking to hear her campaign manager, former MK veteran Carl Niehaus, speaking on her behalf and assuring the country that, if she triumphs at the ANC’s elective conference in December, she will be her own woman and not a puppet of her former husband.

Whether that independence would extend to allowing the legal processes against him to take their course will be interesting to see, especially given that those close to Jacob Zuma have shown they have one thing in common: the commitment to go to extreme lengths to protect him.

An encouraging aspect of what Niehaus said about “NDZ” (her common nickname) is that she intends to strongly drive the economic transformation campaign out of the Union Buildings if she becomes president. She has shown she can get things done, so let’s wait and see.