Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 18 October 2015: African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, was conferred the title of South African of the Year 2015 at the SATY Awards hosted by Africa News Network 7 (ANN7), on Saturday 17 October 2015, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Announcing the award, the AU Commission Chairperson was hailed for her phenomenal contribution to pushing the African Agenda on the international stage.

Accepting the award during the ceremony with many other influential South African nominees and winners in attendance, Dr. Dlamini Zuma said, “Thank you very much. I am very humbled, and at the same time honoured.” She congratulated the nominees and winners in all the different categories, while enjoining the hundreds of thousands of other South Africans with sterling performances, “to be that star that twinkles, and collectively, we give the light and the beauty.”

Voted from among the seven nominees in her category of the Award, the AU Commission Chairperson expressed her gratitude for the nomination and vote, and to all South Africans and to the organisers, ANN7. “By the nomination and vote, you recognise our collective efforts to promote unity and solidarity within our beautiful country and the continent.” Dr. Dlamini Zuma said.

The theme of this year’s SATY Award show is ‘Unity in Diversity’, ideas which Dr. Dlamini Zuma has striven greatly to foster, both within South Africa and across the African continent, in her role as Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

In her speech at the Pan-Africa cultural congress on Africa Day, 25 May 2015, Dr. Dlamini Zuma had said, “The idea of unity in diversity is so critical to the tasks and mission that we set for ourselves in Agenda 2063. Africa is a diverse continent, in religion, culture, language, heritage and the arts. This diversity has co-existed and combined into a melting pot over the centuries. It forms the bedrock of our common destiny, expressed through Pan Africanism. It is a unity in diversity that we must nurture. We must manage this diversity in an inclusive manner, so that no one feels left out”.

The South African of the Year Award comes with a cash prize of ZAR 250,000 (an equivalence of about USD 19,000). The mission of the Awards, according the organisers, ANN7, is to “extol the extraordinary aspects” of South Africa and celebrate its “rich heritage and diversity”. This year’s award ceremony doubles as a celebration of the news network’s second anniversary celebrations.

Thousands of guests attended the awards ceremony from the entertainment industry, the business community and government. It was graced by the presence of the President of South Africa, H.E. Jacob Zuma.

Dr. Dlamini Zuma is also one of five nominees for the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2015. The four others are: Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari; Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; the new Vice President and Treasurer of the World Bank, Arunma Oteh; and Entrepreneur and Philanthropist of MeTL Group, Mohammed Dewji.

This year alone, Dr. Dlamini Zuma has been recipient of at least five different awards. These include: CAF Platinum Order Award; the 2015 Gülen Peace Award; the 2015 eThekwini Living Legends Award; African Foremost Heroines Living Legends; and the African Achievers Awards (Excellence in Leadership Award in the female category).