With Namibians casting their votes on Wednesday, former South African minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has thrown her weight behind Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the candidate for the governing South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo).
In an interview with the Sunday Times to be published on Sunday, Dlamini-Zuma said Nandi-Ndaitwah should win for all women in Africa. If she wins, she will become the second female to be elected president in Africa after Liberian Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
“I'm very excited about Namibia and they have a woman candidate,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
“I hope she wins for all of us because she would be the second woman in Africa to contest presidential elections, second to [former] President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.”
Dlamini-Zuma was talking about the importance of women occupying high positions in society.
Swapo has governed Namibia since its independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
— 34 years in power
The former minister has made several attempts for high office within the ANC. She ran on the same slate as former president Thabo Mbeki as a deputy president candidate at the 2007 Polokwane conference.
She challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa 10 years later for the position of president and lost by a narrow margin.
Dlamini-Zuma is widely respected across the continent after working as the African Union chair, bringing the debate about gender parity to the top of the male-dominated institution's agenda.
Swapo has governed Namibia since its independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.
Political analysts said there is a possibility Swapo will be ousted by youth fed up with high unemployment, inequality and corruption allegations, though longstanding loyalty to the party among older and rural voters could help it pull through, TimesLIVE reported.
Swapo's support fell to 56% in the 2019 presidential election from 87% in 2014. To be elected president, a candidate must get more than 50% of votes or there will be a run-off. Namibians vote separately for the National Assembly.
The full interview and podcast will be published this Sunday.
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