Gogo Elphina Vunathi was the main act at the OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday.

Surrounded by about 400 African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and Women's League members, she turned her crutch into an imaginary AK-47 and sang: "My mother was a kitchen girl, my father was a garden boy", much to the crowd's delight.

The elderly woman from Tembisa was one of hundreds of people there to welcome former AU Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma home.

They sang and danced, making the floor vibrate. Shortly after her performance, Vunathi said: "I am here to welcome Nkosazana. She is our next president."

Dlamini-Zuma was expected to arrive at 11:45.

On Tuesday night, she handed the reins to new African Union Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chad's former foreign minister.

AFP reported that Dlamini-Zuma championed the commission's Agenda 2063 development programme, but was seen as being weak on peace and security issues and distracted by her own political aspirations in SA.