A South African legislator Ebrahim Ebrahim told United States embassy officials that the outcome of the 2000 Zimbabwe elections in which the Movement for Democratic Change narrowly lost to the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front was a welcome result because a ZANU-PF loss would have been destabilising.
Ebrahim who was planning to meet MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube said the results had brought about a true multi-party system because prior to this Zimbabwe had been virtually a one-party state.
He said the South African government was going to try to strengthen its ties with both ZANU-PF and the MDC and would encourage President Robert Mugabe to offer a few cabinet seats to the MDC.
Ebrahim said Mugabe was suspicious of the MDC’s supposed foreign financial backing, and implicitly expressed agreement with this suspicion by pointing out that a well-organised rally that he had attended included a slickly produced video that “could have been produced by Saatchi and Saatchi”.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 00HARARE3545, OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES WILL STRESS
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CONFIDENTIAL PTQ0436
PAGE 01 HARARE 03545 01 OF 02 290913Z
ACTION AF-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AID-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 SMEC-00 DODE-00
SRPP-00 DS-00 FBIE-00 VC-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00
IO-00 LAB-01 L-00 VCE-00 AC-01 NSAE-00 OIC-02
OMB-01 OPIC-01 PA-00 PM-00 PRS-00 ACE-00 P-00
SP-00 IRM-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02
G-00 NFAT-00 SAS-00 /009W
——————684F04 290913Z /38
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6467
INFO NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 003545
SIPDIS
AF FOR P/DAS POWELL AND DAS SCHNEIDMAN
AF/S FOR A. RENDER, D. BOOTH, AND T. FAULK
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR GAYLE SMITH
PASS USAID FOR AFR/SA WJEFFERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/10
SUBJECT: OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES WILL STRESS
POST-ELECTION RECONCILIATION
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 03545 01 OF 02 290913Z
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR TOM MCDONALD.
REASONS: 1.5 (B) AND (D).
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: FOLLOWING ZIMBABWE’S JUNE 24-25
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, REPRESENTATIVES OF OTHER
AFRICAN COUNTRIES HERE HAVE STATED THEIR INTENTION
TO REACH OUT TO BOTH ZANU-PF AND THE MOVEMENT FOR
DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) AND URGE BOTH SIDES TO WORK
TOWARD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION. PARTICIPANTS IN A
JUNE 27 MEETING OF THE AFRICAN DIPLOMATIC CORPS
STRESSED THIS THEME, AS DID SENIOR SOUTH AFRICAN
PARLIAMENTARIAN EBRAHIM EBRAHIM IN A JUNE 28
CONVERSATION WITH US. EBRAHIM HAD MET THE PREVIOUS
EVENING WITH PRESIDENT MUGABE AND FOUND HIM TO BE IN
A CONCILIATORY FRAME OF MIND, ALTHOUGH STILL
PREOCCUPIED WITH PERCEIVED PLOTS AGAINST HIM. END
SUMMARY.
READOUT ON SOUTH AFRICAN MEETING WITH MUGABE
——————————————–
¶2. (C) IN A JUNE 28 CONVERSATION WITH CAPE TOWN-
BASED TDY POLOFF, SENIOR SOUTH AFRICAN
PARLIAMENTARIAN EBRAHIM EBRAHIM DISCUSSED SOUTH
AFRICA’S PLANS FOR NEXT STEPS REGARDING RELATIONS
WITH ZIMBABWE FOLLOWING THE JUNE 24-25 PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTION. EBRAHIM, WHO CHAIRS PARLIAMENT’S FOREIGN
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AND SITS ON THE INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE ANC’S NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
COUNCIL, HAD PARTICIPATED IN PRESIDENT MUGABE’S JUNE
27 MEETING WITH THREE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 HARARE 03545 01 OF 02 290913Z
PARLIAMENTARY OBSERVER DELEGATION. EBRAHIM SAID
THAT HE HAD FOUND MUGABE TO BE IN A FAIRLY
CONCILIATORY FRAME OF MIND AND FOCUSED ON
RECONCILIATION IN THE WAKE OF THE VIOLENCE THAT TOOK
PLACE IN THE LEAD-UP TO THE ELECTIONS. MUGABE HAD
ACKNOWLEDGED, EBRAHIM SAID, THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO
MAKE SOME SORT OF GESTURE TO VICTIMS OF THE
VIOLENCE. HOWEVER, EBRAHIM ALSO FOUND THAT MUGABE
WAS STILL PREOCCUPIED WITH SUPPOSED CONSPIRACIES
AGAINST HIM BY THE BRITISH AND OTHERS.
¶3. (C) SOUTH AFRICA, EBRAHIM TOLD POLOFF, WILL
REMAIN CLOSELY ENGAGED WITH ZIMBABWE TO ENCOURAGE A
PROCESS OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND THE
REVITALIZATION OF ZIMBABWE’S ECONOMY. HE SAID THAT
HE WAS PLEASED WITH THE USG’S ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE
SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT’S QUIET DIPLOMACY APPROACH,
AND TOLD POLOFF THAT A MAJOR PRIORITY FOR THE SOUTH
AFRICANS WILL BE ENCOURAGING THE HEALING OF
ZIMBABWE’S RIFT WITH BRITAIN.
¶4. (C) THE SAG, EBRAHIM SAID, WILL SEEK TO
STRENGTHEN ITS TIES WITH BOTH ZANU-PF AND THE MDC
AND WILL ENCOURAGE MUGABE TO OFFER A FEW CABINET
POSITIONS TO THE MDC. ASKED ABOUT STRAINS BETWEEN
THE MDC AND THE ANC, EBRAHIM, WHO WAS ABOUT TO MEET
WITH SENIOR MDC MEMBER WELSHMAN NCUBE BEFORE
DEPARTING FOR SOUTH AFRICA, ACKNOWLEDGED THE RIFT
AND SAID IT WAS TIME THAT IT WAS REPAIRED. EBRAHIM
NOTED THAT MUGABE REMAINED SUSPICIOUS OF THE MDC’S
SUPPOSED FOREIGN FINANCIAL BACKING, AND IMPLICITLY
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 04 HARARE 03545 01 OF 02 290913Z
EXPRESSED AGREEMENT WITH THIS SUSPICION BY POINTING
OUT THAT A WELL-ORGANIZED MDC RALLY EBRAHIM HAD
RECENTLY ATTENDED INCLUDED A SLICKLY PRODUCED VIDEO
THAT “COULD HAVE BEEN PRODUCED BY SAATCHI AND
SAATCHI.” (NOTE: AN MDC OFFICIAL HAS TOLD US THAT
THE PARTY MADE A MISTAKE IN REACHING OUT TO THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SOUTH AFRICA’S OFFICIAL
OPPOSITION, BEFORE THE ANC. SHE THOUGHT THE MDC AND
ANC COULD IMPROVE THEIR RELATIONS, BUT OPINED THAT
THE ANC HAD LEGITIMATE CONCERNS ABOUT THE
POSSIBILITY THAT THE LABOR UNION COSATU, WHICH IS A
COALITION PARTNER OF THE ANC, WOULD TAKE A LESSON
FROM THE LABOR-BASED MDC AND CHALLENGE THE ANC FROM
WITHOUT. END NOTE.)
¶5. (C) EBRAHIM TOLD POLOFF THAT HE WAS PLEASED
WITH THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION. THERE WAS ONLY A
NARROW RANGE OF OUTCOMES IN WHICH PEACE WOULD BE
POSSIBLE, AND ZANU-PF’S NARROW VICTORY FELL WITHIN
THIS RANGE. IN PARTICULAR, A ZANU-PF LOSS COULD
HAVE BEEN DESTABILIZING. EBRAHIM NOTED THAT, UNLIKE
IN THE PAST, WHEN ZIMBABWE WAS ESSENTIALLY A ONE-
PARTY STATE, THERE IS NOW A MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM. HE
REJECTED THE VIEW OF THE EU MISSION AND OTHERS THAT
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ0437
PAGE 01 HARARE 03545 02 OF 02 290913Z
ACTION AF-00
INFO LOG-00 NP-00 AID-00 ACQ-00 CIAE-00 SMEC-00 DODE-00
SRPP-00 DS-00 FBIE-00 VC-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00
IO-00 LAB-01 L-00 VCE-00 AC-01 NSAE-00 OIC-02
OMB-01 OPIC-01 PA-00 PM-00 PRS-00 ACE-00 P-00
SP-00 IRM-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 DSCC-00 DRL-02
G-00 NFAT-00 SAS-00 /009W
——————684F0D 290913Z /38
P 290914Z JUN 00
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6468
INFO NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 02 OF 02 HARARE 003545
SIPDIS
AF FOR P/DAS POWELL AND DAS SCHNEIDMAN
AF/S FOR A. RENDER, D. BOOTH, AND T. FAULK
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR GAYLE SMITH
PASS USAID FOR AFR/SA WJEFFERS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/10
SUBJECT: OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES WILL STRESS
POST-ELECTION RECONCILIATION
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 02 HARARE 03545 02 OF 02 290913Z
PRE-ELECTION VIOLENCE MILITATED AGAINST A
DETERMINATION THAT THE JUNE 24-25 ELECTION WAS FREE
AND FAIR. WHILE NOT RULING OUT THE POSSIBILITY
THAT ZANU-PF HAD WON SOME SEATS UNFAIRLY, EBRAHIM
OPINED THAT THE ELECTION HAD SUBSTANTIALLY REFLECTED
THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE. THE MDC, HE SAID, SHOULD
ACCEPT THE OUTCOME IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL
RECONCILIATION. HE RECALLED THAT THERE HAD BEEN
WIDESPREAD DOUBT WITHIN THE ANC ABOUT THE RIVAL
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY’S VICTORY IN KWAZULU-NATAL
(EBRAHIM’S HOME AREA) IN SOUTH AFRICA’S FIRST
DEMOCRATIC ELECTION IN 1994, BUT THE PARTY HAD
ACCEPTED THE INKATHA WIN IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL
RECONCILIATION.
OTHER AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS URGE “UNITY IN DIVERSITY”
——————————————— ——
¶6. (C) TANZANIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER ALEXANDER
MUGANDA TOLD THE AMBASSADOR JUNE 28 THAT THE AFRICAN
AMBASSADORS HERE HAD MET THE DAY BEFORE TO DISCUSS
POST-ELECTION ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GOZ. THE AFRICAN
AMBASSADORS AGREED THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO HELP
ZIMBABWE HEAL ITS WOUNDS; ACCEPTANCE OF THE ELECTION
RESULTS BY BOTH SIDES WOULD FOSTER THIS. THE
AMBASSADORS PLAN TO ENCOURAGE ZIMBABWEANS TO EMBRACE
“UNITY IN DIVERSITY” AS A REAL MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM
EMERGES HERE.
¶7. (C) THE AFRICAN AMBASSADOR AGREED AT THE
MEETING THAT THERE ARE REAL WOUNDS THAT MUST BE
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 HARARE 03545 02 OF 02 290913Z
HEALED. A VILLAGER WHOSE HOUSE HAS BEEN BURNED DOWN
NEEDS TO HEAR WORDS OF RECONCILIATION FROM THE
LEADERSHIP. THE AMBASSADORS PLAN TO ASK THEIR
CAPITALS FOR GUIDANCE ON NEXT STEPS; IN DOING SO
THEY WILL ENCOURAGE A POLICY OF QUIET COMMUNICATION
WITH BOTH ZANU-PF AND THE MDC. THE TANZANIAN HIGH
COMMISSIONER HAD TOLD AMBASSADOR MCDONALD SHORTLY
BEFORE THE ELECTION THAT MOST OF THE AFRICAN
AMBASSADORS HAD MET AS A GROUP WITH ZANU-PF NATIONAL
CHAIRMAN JOHN NKOMO TO SEND A MESSAGE THAT CONTINUED
VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION WOULD NOT BE TOLERATED.
¶8. (C) COMMENT: THE NON-CONFRONTATIONAL STANCE
SOUTH AFRICA AND OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES TOOK BEFORE
THE ELECTIONS MAY AFFORD THEM GREATER ENTREE TO
ZIMBABWE’S LEADERSHIP THAN THAT GRANTED TO OTHER
COUNTRIES. IT IS ENCOURAGING TO SEE THAT THEY PLAN
TO REACH OUT TO ALL SIDES AND THAT MESSAGE THEY
DELIVER IS LIKELY TO BE ONE OF RECONCILIATION. END
COMMENT.
MCDONALD
CONFIDENTIAL
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