This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 PRETORIA 004545 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: n/a 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ETRD KDEM PHUM PINR SOCI SF
SUBJECT: PERSPECTIVES ON NEPAD, ISLAM AND THE USA IN SOUTH 
AFRICA FROM S/P FACT-FINDING MISSION, OCTOBER 6-10, 2004 
 
REF: A. STATE 195553 
     ¶B. PRETORIA 04161 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET REPORTING. 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:    S/P consultations in South Africa 
October 6-10, 2004 confirmed strong public and private 
sector support for NEPAD, due largely to Presidents Mbeki 
and Obasanjo's strong leadership.  Expecting legal status as 
an African Union (AU) entity, the NEPAD Secretariat was 
optimistic, including about the related African peer review 
(APR) process, but curious about potential impact on NEPAD 
of UK Prime Minister Blair's Africa Commission.  Most 
interlocutors stressed the importance of capacity building 
and encouraged USG engagement with NEPAD but differed on the 
nature of threats to moderate Islam in Africa.  Prominent 
intellectuals warned that developed and developing countries 
must bridge the policy divide that, on one hand, contributes 
to widespread anti-Americanism in Africa, notably a 
perceived emphasis on antiterrorism to the exclusion of 
Africa's development concerns, and, on the other, failure to 
hold African countries accountable on human rights and good 
governance issues. Business representatives were generally 
positive about NEPAD's prospects and opined that NEPAD's 
failure would have serious consequences for the continent. 
End summary. 
 
CONSULTATIONS IN PRETORIA AND JOHANNESBURG 
 
¶2. (SBU)  S/P Deputy Director Ambassador Perina and Africa 
Specialist James conducted an October 6-10, 2004 fact- 
finding mission to South Africa on institution building in 
Africa, notably the African Union's (AU) New Partnership for 
Africa's Development (NEPAD), and Islam in Africa.  On 
October 6-7 meetings in Pretoria and Johannesburg included 
officials in the South African Government (SAG), NEPAD 
Secretariat, academicians, think tanks, and NEPAD Business 
 
SIPDIS 
Forum.   The team met with the Ambassador and DCM and 
received a briefing by POL, ECON and USAID officers.   The 
Ambassador welcomed the focus on USG support for institution 
building in Africa, highlighting the AU's strategic role. 
The Ambassador stressed the importance of working with the 
Africans and of publicizing our positive interest and track 
record to counterbalance misrepresentations in the media. 
She expected the South Africans to respond well to a USG/AU 
policy dialogue.  PolCounselor Brown and Pol/EconOff Walser 
in Pretoria and Cape Town (see septel) were control 
officers, respectively. 
 
///SAG LEADERSHIP ROLE IN NEPAD/// 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Perina explained S/P's policy coordinating role 
and focus of this mission (interest in dialogue on NEPAD, 
its major challenges, potential USG support for NEPAD, and 
perceived anti-Americanism in Muslim communities in Africa) 
in meetings with the SAG DFA Deputy Director General for 
Africa Ambassador Mamabola and Chief Director for 
Multilateral Affairs Ambassador Duarte.   Both highlighted 
Mbeki and Obasanjo's leadership in spearheading NEPAD's 
creation to address Africa's development problems.  Mamabola 
also cited Algeria, Senegal and Ethiopia as "core group" 
NEPAD supporters.  He said Africa's own contribution to 
NEPAD and conflict resolution efforts were primary focus, 
before seeking external assistance, although he hoped for 
USG support in moving NEPAD forward in the G-8.  Mamabola 
also highlighted the importance of strengthening the Peace 
and Security Council (PSC), Court of Justice, Pan African 
Parliament (PAP), and a voluntary, non-punitive Africa Peer 
Review Mechanism (APRM) to foster good governance "based on 
African standards," not those of the US, UK, or the West 
generally.   A late October evaluation will monitor results 
to date.  Mamabola said that the SAG was looking carefully 
at UK PM Blair's Africa Commission, which appeared to 
duplicate the G-8 action plan itself.  Perina noted that 
NEPAD success would attract support. 
 
///NEPAD/// 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Duarte explained the planning process that 
eventually transformed the OAU to the AU, moving beyond 
"resolutions" to an "instrument" that could independently 
field Africa's own peacekeeping troops.  She said, "NEPAD 
was located in the diversity of 53 states," including North 
Africa, which recently has identified with Sub-Saharan 
Africa.  The Challenge, in her view, was to implement AU 
directives and harmonize 17 overlapping regional 
organizations as NEPAD vehicles.  Duarte contended that a 
policy must allow each to remain independent but cooperative 
on trade and defense issues.  SAG views peace and stability 
as absolute prerequisites, the basic assumption for the 
African common defense policy of 2003.  She listed goals 
achieved to date:  positive role in conflict resolution in 
Burundi and DRC, plans for creation of an African standby 
force and a unified SADC position at DOHA.  The current 
strength of leadership binds NEPAD, but the goal, she said, 
was to find a continent-wide element for success that would 
be lasting but not treaty-based. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Sudan/DRC:  Duarte noted two objectives in Sudan: 
keep the Government of Sudan (GOS) on board as a negotiating 
partner; otherwise the country will be split, and encourage 
the GOS to develop Darfur, the Upper Nile and other deprived 
areas.  There are currently 410 military observers in 
Darfur, she stated.  Major goals include: disarmament and 
return of people to their villages and fields to farm, 
otherwise starvation will result.  A SAG Public Service 
Administration official noted SAG assistance to develop a 
post conflict reconstruction plan for DRC.  Perina advised 
of a new State Department Office on Coordination for 
Reconstruction and Stabilization to assist with post 
conflict events.  Duarte expressed interest in this office 
given NEPAD interest in post conflict "peace management." 
She noted an October 13-15 NEPAD peace and security workshop 
on post conflict reconstruction in Johannesburg to be 
attended by representatives at the ambassadorial level of 
the heads of state steering committee and partners.  Over 
the next thee years, NEPAD's status will be regularized as a 
legal AU entity.  The Secretariat will likely remain in 
South Africa. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  SAG Message to USG policymakers:  Duarte 
encouraged assistance with development and urged the USG to 
view the APRM as a non-punitive, long-term investment.  She 
noted that partnership with the USG is very important and 
asked about potential regional cooperation.  She also noted 
an equal commitment to stop terrorism as manifested by 
African participation in an October 15 meeting to 
assist/assess Africa's own counterterrorism efforts to date. 
 
///OPTIMISTIC NEPAD SECRETARIAT/// 
 
¶7. (SBU)  NEPAD Secretariat Multilateral Relations Director 
Sudir Chuckun noted strong support from the Germans (for 
APRM), Belgium, Dutch and Nordic countries and contact with 
USAID on specific projects.  The UN agencies also have a 
"cluster system" operating in Africa around NEPAD, which he 
described as a socio-economic program of the AU that as yet 
had no legal basis.  A 20-member (5 original plus 15 
members) NEPAD Implementing Committee is a subgrouping under 
the HSGIC (Heads of State and Government Implementation 
Committee), supported by a 45-person Secretariat in Midrand, 
South Africa.  A NEPAD strategic plan is in process.  He 
encouraged life-of-project funding and a more profound 
engagement on policy with the USG, particularly on trade, 
market access, and public administration and governance 
issues. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Chief Economist Jahed welcomed USG interest in 
NEPAD.  Developing the regional economic commissions (REC) 
as key NEPAD building blocks is a major goal. Focus is on 
capacity building, not funding.  He said 23 countries have 
acceded to APRM, a voluntary peer pressure process under 
NEPAD to foster good governance and accountability. 
Strategic issues include:  debt, market access, corruption, 
building internal regional trade, developing an early 
warning system and post conflict reconstruction.  A private 
sector unit exists.  The African Business Round Table works 
with the NEPAD business groups in South Africa, Kenya, 
Swaziland, Lesotho, and Zambia.  Outside SA, the focus is on 
SMEs.  The groups will play a supportive role, according to 
Jahed, along with other partners (OECD, ADB, Commonwealth 
Business Council, etc.).  There is an advisor on 
gender/women and others planned for labor and civil society 
issues. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  NEPAD Secretariat message for USG policymakers: 
It is important to engage with NEPAD; evaluate ODA and 
quality of support; and support G-8 forum key issues. It 
would have been useful to have a dialogue on Millennium 
Challenge Corporation issues before the fact.  NEPAD is 
viewed as the continent's blueprint for which support is 
needed so the staffers questioned UK Africa Commission's 
likely impact on NEPAD. 
 
///NEPAD BUSINESS LUNCH/// 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Johannesburg CG Dunn hosted a lunch to provide 
business's perspective on NEPAD.   Guests included the head 
of the APR Secretariat, the Executive Director of the 
American Chamber of Commerce and members of the Chamber's 
NEPAD Committee, a Hewlett-Packard IT specialist who is a 
member of NEPAD's E-Africa Commission, and the President of 
the South African Black Accountants Association.  Geoff 
Rothschild, public relations director of the Johannesburg 
Securities Exchange and a member of the NEPAD Business 
Forum, explained the Forum's genesis, ties to companies 
participating in the World Economic Forum, sectoral focus, 
and support from President Mbeki.  He strongly supported 
NEPAD, contending that it facilitates sustainable efforts to 
alleviate poverty.  Others around the table repeated this 
theme, observing that an effective NEPAD is also good for 
business. The APR official said that feedback from 
"stakeholders" in the peer review process was a major 
departure for most African governments and defended the non- 
punitive character of the APRM, stating that it was not for 
donors or investors to put Africa's house in order.  The 
strategy of NEPAD leaders is to send a strong persuasive 
signal to non-participating countries to pressure them into 
joining up; progress to date has been encouraging. 
 
///INTELLECTUALS ON NEPAD ./// 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Four outspoken, much published intellectuals, 
academicians and journalists from the Center for Policy 
Studies, Institute for Strategic Studies, University of 
Witwatersrand, and South African Institute of International 
Affairs (SAIIA) met with the S/P staff and PolCounselor. 
Two agreed that with the OAU-AU transition Africa had 
reached a "turning point" with a new African-initiated 
emphasis on good governance, corporate responsibility, 
conflict resolution via the PSC and plans for the African 
standby force, and coordinated approach to development via 
NEPAD.   One suggested that it was more a "breaking point" 
pressed by events in Rwanda, Somalia, Sierra Leone and the 
DRC and pushed forward by South Africa and Nigeria's 
presidents.   Another said that NEPAD Secretariat was 
understaffed with no direction or vision or delivery vehicle 
on how to translate a plan into action, asking what happens 
after Mbeki and Obasanjo? 
 
¶12. (SBU)  One interlocutor acknowledged a turning point but 
queried its sustainability.  He said the OAU spearheaded 
political liberation and developed a culture of solidarity 
from the independence struggle - i.e., don't break ranks. 
New representative and accountability institutions such as 
the PAP, HSGIC, Ministerial Council, Economic and Social 
Council, and proposed courts were positive developments.  An 
interventional regime now exists, replacing the 
anticolonial, anti-apartheid focus of yesteryear.  The new 
pretext for action is against genocide, human rights 
violations and unconstitutional changes of government. 
NEPAD explicitly links peace, security, democracy and good 
governance continent-wide.  This has led to two contending 
threads of African nationalism:  the "old style" represented 
by Mugabe of Zimbabwe, the nationalist, sovereign ruler, and 
anti-colonial fighter who mobilizes Africans around these 
themes, and, until recently, Khadafi of Libya.  Secondly, 
the new pan-Africanist core group - Mbeki and Obasanjo 
(along with presidents of Mozambique, Tanzania, Senegal, 
Ghana, and Botswana) projects a politics of accommodation. 
Resources also remain a serious problem with five countries 
accounting for most of the AU budget.  There is a policy and 
implementation gap; the sooner NEPAD integrates into NEPAD 
the better.  He perceived a need to coordinate NEPAD 
capacity with the RECs, including retention of good staff at 
the Secretariat. 
 
¶13. (SBU)  Message for USG policymakers:  Specify the nature 
of the partnership vis--vis reform and delivery of donor 
resources.  Specifically, what does Africa get for airing 
its dirty laundry?  There needs to be some form of subtle 
reinforcement.  Blair "is getting ahead of himself, not 
giving Africa enough time."  There needs to be a more honest 
and judicious way of communicating with Africans.  The RECs 
ability to deliver in one view is questionable; and as a 
result, the SAG is moving away from SADC to a more continent- 
wide approach on some issues.  NEPAD needs practical 
deliverables, but donors should not devise a NEPAD 
agricultural plan.  There should be careful statecraft in 
support of nations doing the right thing (i.e., invitations, 
White House visits, assistance, etc.  For example, the Dutch 
and Danes left Kenya).  The US especially should strengthen 
Africa's peacekeeping capacity via timely technical 
assistance and logistical support. 
 
///.AND PERCEPTIONS OF USG/// 
 
¶14. One said that perceptions of hypocrisy and self-interest 
preoccupation of the US do not play well in Africa as seen 
by the "jump in Iraq" and "not one soldier in Liberia." 
Such things affect US credibility.  Another opined that the 
notion that all mistakes are on the US side is wrong, 
unhelpful and plays into the hands of those who wish to 
destabilize and alienate Africans from the United States. 
NEPAD/APRM could become a new form of conditionality.  Avoid 
coming across as if mutual accountability does not exist. 
How do we extract outside commitment based on that we do 
with respect to democracy, human rights and peace in 
exchange for open market access.  Also, using the slogan 
"African solutions to African problems," potentially "a cop 
out for reneging on responsibility."  Let's avoid 
"aristocracy of death; there are conflicts everywhere."  For 
example, why expend billions of dollars for one conflict but 
blame Africa for African conflicts.  Western countries and 
Africans need to learn how to develop consensus on Darfur 
and Zimbabwe. 
 
///MUSLIMS IN AFRICA/// 
 
¶15. (SBU)  Perina noted the USG focus on Africa in the 
global context of a post-911 world and the need to reach out 
to Muslims.  He asked if there was a danger of these 
communities changing - for economic or other reasons - in 
ways that threaten stability?  One interlocutor noted an 
increase in students from all over Africa and Asia in 
Madrassas (Islamic schools) in Pakistan.  Another suggested 
that it would be a mistake to focus on only that segment of 
the population, because the USG has angered the entire 
continent, far beyond the Muslim community.  The US "needs 
partners to defeat this problem."  At the 59th UNGA, Mbeki 
pressed for development and Bush antiterrorism; the issue is 
how to bridge this divide by compromise, according to the 
interlocutor.  Anti-Americanism is widespread.  Another 
interlocutor echoed these sentiments, stating that strong 
anti-American sentiment is widespread in Africa.  The 
perception is that America dictates how societies should 
organize themselves, fostering an existing degree of 
solidarity between Africa and the Arab world in particular. 
 
¶16. (SBU)  Muslim in Sub-Saharan Africa are moderate 
communities generally and those in South Africa do not 
necessarily harbor extremist views, because Africa seems to 
have embraced the western notion of democracy.  Most 
Africans do not mix religion and politics.  The US needs to 
be very careful in terms of its advocacy of its own beliefs 
about democracy and antiterrorism, particularly since Africa 
acknowledges the need to fight terrorism and is putting 
legislation in place.   One said the US comes on "too 
strong" and does not seem to understand that 911 represented 
a civil war in Islam in Central Asia, the Middle East and 
the Horn.   In one sense, he said the US was not the real 
target but a convenient hook for mobilizing this struggle. 
The US antiterrorist strategy misses the boat on how the US 
plays into this. 
 
¶17. (SBU)  One interlocutor suggested the need for a 
different model of US diplomacy, changing tone and style 
while still acting in its own self-interest.  A different 
approach could make a difference.  US diplomats should 
cultivate and develop personal relationships, building 
trust.  Much of the dynamics of the Zimbabwe situation 
relates to failure to do that.  Blair fell right into that 
mode and made it difficult for the SAG and others to take 
the moral position on Zimbabwe.  Why not quietly fund the 
right things?  For example, brisk debt relief would win the 
US some points, as would follow-through on Monterrey.  There 
needs to be a bridge.  They recognized that America was 
hurting after 911 and not interested in talking about 
development.  However, the world was ready for cooperation 
but instead reacted to post-911US actions with tremendous 
alienation.  The perception is that America is strong and 
democratic at home but a dictator abroad. 
 
¶18. (SBU)  SAG reaction:  Regarding the few Muslims in South 
Africa, DFA DDG Ambassador Mamabola stated that there was a 
history of coexistence and governance, but Darfur, in his 
view, will be a test for Africa.  He added that this issue 
threatened Nigeria as well.  A close ANC advisor and Muslim 
scholar noted the proliferation of proselytizing Saudi 
Arabian text books in South Africa that can be expected to 
have an impact in the future. 
 
¶19. (SBU)  Comment:  S/P staffers considered the mission to 
be highly successful and useful input into the US 
policymaking process on NEPAD and an approach to Islam in 
Africa.  Results of the October 12-13 NEPAD peace and 
security workshop on post conflict reconstruction and the 
October 22-23 Multi-stakeholders Review in South Africa 
should indicate how Africa's grades it own progress to date 
and perhaps suggest how it plans to proceed with existing 
and potential partners. 
 
(U)  Ambassador Perina cleared this message. 
 
MILOVANOVIC