NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TUESDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 2019

Page: 169

4) believes that the position of the AU Chair rotates between the African regions and this time it was meant to go to eSwatini, formerly Swaziland, but capacity constraints meant the country could not fulfil this duty and pleaded with South Africa to take over;

5) remembers that South Africa last chaired the AU in 2002 when former President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki held the position;

6) further remembers that the last time a country from the Southern African Development community, SADC, region chaired the AU was in 2015 under former Zimbabwean President Robert Gabriel Mugabe;

7) congratulates President Ramaphosa on the appointment;

8) and wishes him well when he resumes his appointment in 2020.