Calling another build tool from setup.py

Question

I have a medium-sized C ++ / Python project that requires compiling external dependencies and tools. Namely, to interact with the Qt MOC compiler, among other things.

This project creates a library, header files, and a python extension. I would like to use the python setuptools tools to distribute and create this project. The problem is that the build bits from distutils are not satisfactory for our project needs. We need things like parallel assemblies and detection of external dependencies.

Question: What is the best way to do this? Is it possible, for example, to write setup.py , which delegates the assembly to waf? A working example (even if summarized) is a plus!