Former South African President Thabo Mbeki’s chief of Staff Frank Chikane told a Movement for Democratic Change delegation that the MDC should come up with a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis because the South African government was battling with President Robert Mugabe who was increasingly becoming a madman.
Chikane was part of a South African government delegation which also included Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi and Presidential Legal Advisor Mojanku Gumbi. The delegation met Tendai Biti who represented MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube who represented the Arthur Mutambara splinter MDC faction on 23 March 2007.
The South African Government asked the MDC to describe how it would like to see the situation in Zimbabwe evolve. Biti sketched the key elements of the MDC “roadmap” which were:
- a transitional period with Mugabe out of power;
- internationally-supervised elections in 2008;
- installation of a new constitution; and
- repeal of repressive legislation including POSA and AIPPA.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 07PRETORIA1054, C) MDC HAS “CONSTRUCTIVE” MEETING WITH SOUTH
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Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO4622
PP RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #1054/01 0831415
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 241415Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8873
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA PRIORITY 0952
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 2041
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 1041
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0501
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1144
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1036
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0062
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0375
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 001054
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2017
SUBJECT: (C) MDC HAS “CONSTRUCTIVE” MEETING WITH SOUTH
AFRICAN GOVERNMENT
REF: A. TRENKLE-TABLER-STONE EMAIL OF 3/23/07
¶B. DAR ES SALAAM 375
¶C. PRETORIA 957
¶D. HARARE 236
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Catherine Kay. Reasons 1.4(b
) and (d).
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Zimbabwean opposition MDC leaders met March
23 with senior South African Government (SAG) officials in
Pretoria. SAG officials sought the views of the MDC on the
situation in Zimbabwe and asked them to describe the MDC
“roadmap” for solving the crisis. Earlier that day,
DepForMin Pahad publicly defended the South African strategy
in Zimbabwe, claiming the SAG will not make “militant
statements” just to please Western governments. He insisted
on the importance of dialogue. Pahad also announced that the
upcoming SADC Organ meeting on Zimbabwe, planned for March
25-27, would be postponed. The SAG meeting with the MDC
tracks with the reported SADC strategy to deal with the
Zimbabwe crisis (ref B), with Pretoria taking the lead with
the opposition. If the goal of the SAG meeting was to
reestablish Pretoria’s credibility with the MDC, the South
Africans appear to be succeeding. END SUMMARY.
————————-
MDC Upbeat on SAG Meeting
————————-
¶2. (C) Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube, the
Secretaries-General of the two Movement for Democratic Change
SIPDIS
(MDC) factions, met March 23 in Pretoria with senior SAG
officials, including Mbeki’s chief of staff Frank Chikane,
DepForMin Aziz Pahad, Minister of Provincial and Local
Government Sydney Mufamadi, Presidential Legal Advisor
Mojanku Gumbi, and one unidentified Department of Foreign
Affairs official. Biti represented MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai and Ncube represented the Arthur Mutambara
SIPDIS
splinter MDC faction. The meeting, which took place at the
request of the SAG, lasted more than three hours.
¶3. (C) According to MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett, who spoke with
Biti following the meeting, the South Africans said they
wanted to hear how the MDC viewed the situation in Zimbabwe,
and asked a series of probing questions about the economic
and political crisis. Bennett told PolOff March 23 that
Tendai Biti was very positive about the discussion and
believed the meeting was “constructive.”
¶4. (C) The SAG asked the MDC to describe how it would like to
see the situation evolve. Bennett said that Biti sketched
the key elements of the MDC “roadmap”:
— a transitional period with Mugabe out of power;
— internationally-supervised elections in 2008;
— installation of a new constitution; and
— repeal of repressive legislation including POSA and AIPPA.
The South Africa representatives took note of the MDC
roadmap, but did not put forward any of their own ideas for
resolving the crisis, nor did they describe any of the
details from President Kikwete’s meeting with President
Mugabe (ref B).
¶5. (C) According to Bennett, Legal Advisor Gumbi pushed the
MDC to also show “goodwill” by scaling down protests. Ncube
rejected Gumbi’s request, arguing that South Africa had asked
the MDC to show patience in the past, and it never helped
their cause. Bennett commented that Biti was encouraged by
Ncube’s response, since Ncube had urged restraint in the past
within the MDC. Biti also said that Chief of Staff Chikane
commented on how South Africa was “battling” to deal with
Mugabe, who was increasingly a “madman.”
¶6. (C) Bennett said that the next step is for South Africa or
other SADC leaders to meet with Mugabe. In the meantime, the
MDC planned to continue, even intensify, its campaign of mass
action.
PRETORIA 00001054 002 OF 002
——————————————— –
Zimbabwean Vice President Also in South Africa
——————————————— –
¶7. (U) Zimbabwean Vice President Joyce Mujuru also visited
South Africa March 23, although Department of Foreign Affairs
spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said the visit was “private.”
Several South African and international newspapers reported
that Mujuru met South African Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka
at the Westcliffe Hotel in Johannesburg.
——————————————— ———-
Pahad Concerned about “Meltdown”; Criticizes Media/West
——————————————— ———-
¶8. (U) At his regular biweekly March 23 press conference,
which was held before the MDC meeting, DepForMin Pahad warned
of a “meltdown” in Zimbabwe (“it is difficult to see how a
meltdown will not take place”), but also criticized the South
African media for “sensationalism” and the “outside
governments” for not playing a constructive role. Pahad said
that South Africa will not “make militant statements to make
us feel good, or to satisfy governments outside the African
continent.” Emphasizing the importance of dialogue between
the Zimbabwean government and opposition, Pahad said that
South Africa will try to “keep the dialogue open and to see
how we can influence each other.”
¶9. (U) According to press reports, Pahad also said that the
March 25-27 meeting of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense
and Security on Zimbabwe would be postponed and could end up
as a presidential summit.
——-
Comment
——-
¶10. (C) The South African outreach to the MDC tracks with ref
B, which outlined the Tanzanian/SADC plan for resolving the
Zimbabwean crisis, giving Pretoria the lead in working with
the Zimbabwean opposition. If the goal of the March 23 SAG
meeting was to reestablish Pretoria’s credibility with the
MDC — which had been badly damaged in recent years (ref D)
— Bennett’s readout indicates the South Africans are
succeeding.
BOST
(22 VIEWS)
