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

African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma attends the launch ceremony of the African Union support to Ebola outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) in Lagos December 3, 2014. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - 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.