Dlamini-Zuma for ANC president?

African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has given the strongest indication yet that she is in the running for ANC president come 2017.

News24 asked her after the closing of the AU heads of state summit whether her staying for another nine months at the helm of the continental body would affect her campaign in the ANC, she indicated that she would be free to take up the position if required.

"The [ANC] conference is 2017 December," she said.

She said, laughing, that her current position "has got nothing to do with the ANC. The ANC has its own processes".

Her term would have ended in October had a suitable successor been elected at the recent summit, but none of the three candidates got the required two-thirds majority.

"Of course my term should have ended in October but the way I look at it is that I'd come to serve the continent and if the continent has challenges, and they want me to stay an additional six months, I should do it, and do it with pleasure."

Dlamini-Zuma is the first female AU chairperson, and some in the ANC, including the ANC Women's League and the Youth League, are campaigning for her to become the party and the country's first female president.

Sources close to her said she is keen to return to South Africa.