Zuma's ex-wife given boost in South Africa leadership race

The chances of South African President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, becoming the next leader of the African National Congress were given a boost on Saturday with the endorsement of the ruling party's women's division.

The ANC will pick a new leader at a conference in December and, given its national dominance since coming to power at the end of apartheid in 1994, the winner is likely to go on to be South Africa's next president when elections are held in 2019.

Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union, is viewed as a front-runner. She is a Zulu, the largest tribe in South Africa, and is expected to have the backing of her former husband, who will have a major say in who succeeds him.