VZCZCXRO9878
PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #1000/01 1301538
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 091538Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4430
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE PRIORITY 3658
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1520
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN PRIORITY 5588
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN PRIORITY 9805
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 001000 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KHUM KDEM SF ZI
SUBJECT: MBEKI AND ADVISORS REVEAL BIAS AGAINST MDC (AND 
WEST) 
 
REF: PRETORIA 951 
 
PRETORIA 00001000  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Mary Deane Conners.  Reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) British diplomat Marianne Young (protect) told PolOff 
on 09 May that President Mbeki's chief strategist, Joel 
Netshitenzhe, has bought Mugabe's argument that the MDC is a 
western puppet "hook, line, and sinker."  Young had just 
returned from a meeting with an unnamed source in the 
presidency who told her that Netshitenzhe believes Zimbabwe 
is a "failed Orange Revolution," and that the U.S. and UK are 
using "western tactics like trying to cobble together 50 
percent for MDC, which obviously did not happen."  According 
to Young's source, Netshitenzhe also believes the arguments 
made to President Mbeki in Pretoria on 06 May by ZANU-PF 
negotiators Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche that 
teachers at polling stations manipulated the results in favor 
of MDC. 
 
¶2. (C) Young also revealed that Minister of Local Government 
Sydney Mufamadi, a key member of Mbeki's mediation team on 
Zimbabwe, called the British High Commissioner on 25 April to 
relay two messages from President Mbeki.  The first was that 
Prime Minister Brown's suggestion that a UN arms embargo be 
considered was completely unnecessary.  The second was that 
the British should not trust Morgan Tsvangirai.  (NOTE: 
Mufamadi's comments are ridiculous given the timing of his 
demarche.  The UK suggested the arms embargo soon after the 
South African government approved the unloading and transport 
of Chinese ammunition destined to Zimbabwe through South 
Africa.  In fact, Mufamadi, who chairs SAG's National 
Conventional Arms Control Committee, personally approved the 
transfer.  Despite the SAG's public statements that there was 
no legal basis to deny the license request, civil society 
groups contested the transfer in Durban High Court on the 
basis of human rights exemptions in the applicable domestic 
law, forcing the ship to leave Durban on 19 April.  END NOTE) 
 
 
¶3. (C) President Mbeki also has recently publicly complained 
that the US and UK have sought to subvert SADC's mediation 
efforts and that Tsvangirai has reneged on agreements with 
him, such as participating in a run-off, at the advice of the 
US and UK.  During a meeting with church leaders on 04 May, 
Mbeki allegedly called Tsvangirai a "puppet of the west," 
though Mbeki's spokesperson Mokone Ratshitanga has publicly 
denied such a statement was made.  Earlier today, press 
reports also noted that Mbeki has skoffed at the idea of 
outside observers in Zimbabwe, saying that the suggestion 
implies Africans cannot run their own elections. 
 
¶4. (C) In what Post initially interpreted as good news, 
Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo yesterday spoke out publicly 
about the escalating violence in Zimbabwe, saying that a 
run-off under current conditions is not possible.  Mamabolo, 
however, refused to lay blame on either party, saying 
instead, "Both sides are blaming each other."  (NOTE: 
Mamabolo, who is well-respected in the diplomatic community 
and leads the South African observer mission to Zimbabwe, has 
voiced his concerns privately to Pretoria diplomats about the 
increasing violence.  END NOTE)  Young's source in the 
presidency told her that Mamabolo did not want to speak out 
Qpresidency told her that Mamabolo did not want to speak out 
because he thought it important to stay neutral, but was 
forced to by the Presidency which wants to provide a 
counterweight to ANC President Jacob Zuma's statements on the 
crisis.  Young also said that the South African observation 
team of retired military officers sent in earlier this week 
to investigate violence was an ANC-led initiative, not the 
government's (reftel). 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT: Mbeki has consistently argued that he cannot 
criticize ZANU-PF or Mugabe if he wants to be effective as a 
mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis.  However, both his words and 
actions, as well as those of other South African officials 
close to him, appear to be anything but neutral.  His 
critical comments of the US, UK, and MDC may be a way for him 
to reassert himself as mediator and to regain some 
credibility within the SADC region.  Ironically, giving the 
impression that the only two choices in the crisis are 
himself or western imperialists also has been Mugabe's 
(scare) tactic.  END COMMENT. 
 
PRETORIA 00001000  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
BALL