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FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5417
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN IMMEDIATE 5919
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN IMMEDIATE 0082
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG IMMEDIATE 8288
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PRETORIA 001810 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S (MARBURG), AF/RSA, H (AMACDERMOTT) 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO HILL STAFFERS RKING, P-AMARSH, DBERAKA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ETRD OVIP SF ZI
SUBJECT: CODEL BERMAN CALLS ON OFFICIALS AND VISITS PEPFAR 
AND AGOA SITES IN SOUTH AFRICA 
 
PRETORIA 00001810  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
This is the first of three cables reporting on CODEL Berman's 
July 1-6, 2008 visit to South Africa.  The second cable 
reports on the CODEL's meeting with Deputy Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad.  The third cable reports on the 
CODEL's meeting with Zimbabwean opposition leaders.  The 
cable is sensitive but unclassified. Not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  CODEL Berman completed an extensive visit 
to South Africa, July 1-6, 2008.  In Cape Town, the 
delegation visited the Port of Cape Town to learn about trade 
and port security issues and met with a major supermarket 
chain CEO to hear about his pioneering efforts to promote 
black ownership in the retail sector.  In Pretoria, the CODEL 
participated in a Country Team briefing with Ambassador Bost, 
attended the Embassy's annual Fourth of July event, met with 
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad to discuss Zimbabwe and 
South African domestic issues and interacted with a group of 
Zimbabwean opposition leaders.  In Johannesburg, the 
delegation visited the PEPFAR-supported Themba Lethu Clinic 
to review treatment for HIV/AIDS patients, toured the 
AGOA-benefited Issy Petite designs Factory to understand how 
South African manufactured exports enter the U.S. market, and 
laid a wreath at the Hector Pieterson Museum in honor of 
those who fell during the anti-apartheid struggle.  In White 
River, the CODEL visited the ACTS Community Clinic to review 
treatment for HIV/AIDS patients in a rural setting and 
conducted an interview with Talk Radio 702, South Africa's 
most influential  radio station.  CODEL Berman was able to 
meet with a wide variety of South African public and private 
sector officials during this visit.  The U.S. Embassy thanks 
CODEL Berman for creating the opportunity and working with 
the press to get this positive message to the South African 
public.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) CODEL Berman completed an extensive, one-week visit 
to South Africa, visiting the cities of Cape Town, Pretoria, 
Johannesburg and White River, July 1-6, 2008.  The delegation 
was headed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard 
Berman (D-CA) and included House Education and Labor 
Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), Foreign Affairs 
Committee Ranking Member Ed Royce (R-CA), House Government 
Reform and Oversight Committee Ranking Member Thomas Davis 
(R-VA), Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), Congressman Donald M. 
Payne (D-NJ), and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA). 
 
------------------- 
Cape Town, July 1-2 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Port of Cape Town Visit.  CODEL Berman called on 
state transportation company Transnet headquarters in the 
port of Cape Town on July 2.  Transnet Port of Cape Town Port 
Captain/Harbor Master Ravi Naicker, Assistant Port 
Captain/Assistant Harbor Manster Carl Otto, Marketing Manager 
Selma Schwartz and Infrastructure Manager Magentran 
Rughenavelu provided a comprehensive presentation on the port 
and its infrastructure.  The CODEL members raised questions 
about the types of trade handled by the port, port security 
Qabout the types of trade handled by the port, port security 
measures, and security screening of inbound vessels.  The 
Transnet officials explained how the harbor works, which 
international protocols they follow, and how they interact 
with other agencies, particularly the intelligence agencies, 
in identifying and investigating suspicious activities.  Each 
ship requesting any harbor services must do so in writing 
several days in advance.  Transnet then shares the requests 
with various government entities which have the opportunity 
to alert the harbor officials if there is any reason to 
believe that the ship might be carrying contraband.  Only a 
small number of containers in Cape Town get checked.  The 
Port of Durban has the technical ability to x-ray containers, 
but the Port of Cape Town does not.  The Transnet officials 
also expressed a desire to expand operations in the Port of 
Cape Town, but can do so only by reclaiming more land from 
the sea.  This potential reclamation is restrained by legal 
uncertainty about the ownership of any land that would be 
reclaimed. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) CODEL Berman then traveled to Stellenbosch to have 
 
PRETORIA 00001810  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
dinner with Shop-Rite CEO Whitey Basson.  Shop-Rite is one of 
South Africa's four major supermarket chains and Basson has 
been a pioneer in promoting black ownership in the retail 
sector.  The CODEL members asked Basson about his pioneering 
efforts and Basson described some of his major 
accomplishments and obstacles. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Chairman Berman also had a separate meeting with 
South African Jewish Board of Deputies Chairman Michael 
Bagraim and other board members and Jewish leaders at the 
offices of the Jewish Board of Deputies on July 2.  Chairman 
Berman said he and his delegation were interested in gauging 
the impact of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS 
Relief (PEPFAR) and their attitudes towards Israel.  Chairman 
Berman said he had begun working on anti-apartheid issues in 
Congress in 1983 and noted that many South African Jews had 
been prominent in the struggle against apartheid.  Bagraim 
described the South African Jewish community and Chairman 
Berman fielded questions from the assembled group about Iraq, 
Iran, HIV/AIDS, Zimbabwe and the U.S. presidential election. 
Chairman Berman also toured the Cape Town Holocaust Centre. 
 
---------------- 
Pretoria, July 3 
---------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Country Team Briefing.  Ambassador Bost, then 
Deputy Chief of Mission Teitelbaum and the full Embassy 
Country Team briefed the CODEL on the morning of July 3 on a 
variety of political, economic, agricultural, and health 
issues.  Members of the Health Task Force (OIH, USAID, CDC, 
Peace Corps and DAO) had the opportunity to discuss the 
Embassy's expanding USD 592 million PEPFAR program.  The 
Health Attache noted that as of July there were now 500,000 
South Africans on ARV treatment, up from half that number 
just two years ago.  The Political Counselor responded to 
questions about the political and economic crisis in 
Zimbabwe, what the Zimbabwean opposition wants from the U.S., 
and the impact of millions of undocumented Zimbabweans living 
in South Africa.  The Agricultural Counselor responded to 
questions about the regional food shortage and the potential 
export of South Africa's corn surplus to Zimbabwe.  He noted 
that the main issue is not food production, but cost of food 
for the average citizen.  The Economic and Commercial 
Counselors discussed South Africa's power crisis and the 
Embassy's efforts to support U.S. company Westinghouse in its 
USD 70 billion bid to build up to 12 AP1000 nuclear reactors 
in South Africa by 2025. 
 
¶7.  (U) Fourth of July Event.  The CODEL attended Embassy 
Pretoria's Fourth of July event at the Community Center at 
mid-day on July 3.  The event was attended by 500 public and 
private sector guests, including Foreign Affairs Deputy 
Minister Sue van der Merwe.  Deputy Minister van der Merwe 
and Ambassador Bost both spoke about the strength of the 
bilateral relationship.  Chairman Berman was invited to 
address the assembled guests.  He introduced the members of 
the delegation, mentioned their prior visits to South Africa, 
and noted how hard they had worked on PEPFAR.  Chairman 
Qand noted how hard they had worked on PEPFAR.  Chairman 
Berman met with South African Institute of International 
Affairs (SAIIA) Deputy Chairman Moeletsi Mbeki (the brother 
of South African President Thabo Mbeki). 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister.  The CODEL called 
on Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad on the 
afternoon on July 3.  Deputy Minister Pahad thanked the CODEL 
for visiting South Africa and expressed appreciation for 
congressional support for funding to combat HIV/AIDS and for 
legislation to remove anti-apartheid activists from the U.S. 
terrorist list.  Pahad strongly defended South Africa's 
policy toward Zimbabwe and urged the CODEL to support the 
African Union's call for a government of national unity, 
which Pahad claimed was "the only way out of the Zimbabwe 
crisis."  He explained that South Africa is focused on 
facilitating dialogue between the ruling ZANU-PF and the 
opposition MDC and believes calls for new mediators and 
expansion of smart sanctions are not helpful.  Turning to 
domestic issues, Pahad said the recent shift in ANC 
leadership was "healthy," but admitted that in his view the 
 
PRETORIA 00001810  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
sweeping changes in the party had come "too soon".  Pahad 
concluded that the South African government was doing its 
best to confront the country's many challenges, many of which 
had been inherited from the previous regime.  A brief 
television interview with the delegation after the meeting 
was covered by local television stations.  (See septel for 
additional details.) 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Zimbabwe Opposition Leaders.  Senior officials of 
the Zimbabwean opposition party Movement for Democratic 
Change hosted the CODEL on the evening of July 3.  The 
officials told the delegation that the Zimbabwean June 27 
run-off election was a farce, Mugabe's presidential claim was 
illegitimate, and a Transitional Authority - not a Government 
of National Unity - was needed to prepare the way out of the 
Zimbabwean political crisis via new elections in the next 18 
months.  They decried the recent trend in Africa which allows 
a loser who is prone to the use of violence to negotiate a 
power sharing agreement.  They also expressed a complete lack 
of faith in South Africa's mediation effort and the ability 
of the AU and the Southern African Development Community to 
solve the crisis.  They expressed hope that the UNSC could do 
more and asked for pressure from the U.S. and the 
international community to insist that the outcome of new 
elections in Zimbabwe "reflects the will of the people." 
(See septel for additional background.) 
 
-------------------- 
Johannesburg, July 4 
-------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Helen Joseph Hospital.  The CODEL visited the 
PEPFAR-supported Themba Lethu ARV Clinic and Right to Care 
treatment facility at the government-funded Helen Joseph 
Hospital in Johannesburg.  The clinic is one of the first ARV 
clinics in the country and it is a center for excellence in 
the health area.  It has more patients on Antiretroviral 
Therapy (ART) than any clinic in the country.  Right to Care 
Country Director Ian Sanne provided a briefing on Right to 
Care's six country-wide models for ARV distribution.  He also 
highlighted the integration of different agency/NGO efforts 
(USAID/NIH/Right to Care) at the same site, the integration 
of different treatments (VCT, ARV distribution and TB 
testing), and the importance of South African Government 
funding for the clinic's efforts (79 percent of total 
funding).  An indigenous choir warmly welcomed the CODEL, and 
two HIV/AIDS patients who are now employed as health workers 
by Right to Care told their life stories and thanked the 
delegation for U.S. funding and technical support.  CNBC 
Africa covered the visit and broadcast the segment across 
sub-Saharan Africa. 
 
¶11.  (U) Issy Petite Designs Factory.  The delegation toured 
the Issy Petite Designs Factory in Industria, a formerly 
"colored" township north of Soweto.  Issy is a rapidly 
growing, previously disadvantaged people-owned business that 
designs and manufactures high-end furniture for domestic and 
international customers.  Issy has a second factory in 
Nigeria, is in the process of establishing a second factory 
in Angola and plans to open a show-room in Dubai.  Issy also 
Qin Angola and plans to open a show-room in Dubai.  Issy also 
benefits from duty-free exports to the U.S. market as a 
result of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). 
Issy Managing Director Issy Penniken explained to the CODEL 
how USAID's South Africa Business Linkage (SAIBL) Program has 
helped the company make strategic business and marketing 
improvements, attend international exhibitions, achieve 
high-quality accreditation and benefit from AGOA.  He thanked 
the CODEL for U.S. technical support and access to the market 
and said, "If it had not been for U.S. technical support, I 
would not be where I am today." 
 
¶12.  (U) Hector Pieterson Museum.  The CODEL visited the 
Hector Pieterson Museum and laid a wreath at the memorial 
site for those who fell during the struggle against 
apartheid.  Antoinette Sithole, the sister of slain Hector 
Pieterson, told the delegation how he died and gave her 
eye-witness account of his death.  The Sowetan, a 
influential, Afro-centric newspaper with a circulation of 
more than 150,000, interviewed Chairman Berman after the 
 
PRETORIA 00001810  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
wreath-laying.  The article, which appeared on July 7, quoted 
the Chairman's comments about the struggle and mentioned his 
work sponsoring the new bill that removed Nelson Mandela and 
other ANC members from the list of terrorists. 
 
------------------- 
White River, July 4 
------------------- 
 
¶13.  (U) ACTS Community Clinic.  The delegation visited the 
AIDS Care, Training and Support (ACTS) Community Clinic near 
White River, in Mpumalanga Province.  The first NGO treatment 
site, supported by Right to Care, the ACTS Community Center 
is focused on the effective delivery of ART in a rural 
community where there is no government hospital present. 
Right to Care Country Director Dr. Ian Sanne provided a tour 
of the facility which included a CDC Togatainer site.  The 
CDC Togatainer site represents CDC's efforts to locate 
modular molecular and general pathology laboratories in 
converted shipping containers for on-the-spot testing at 
existing clinics in rural areas.  Dr. Sanne again highlighted 
the integration of different agency/NGO efforts 
(USAID/CDC/Right to Care) at the same site, the integration 
of different treatments.  Chairman Berman also dedicated a 
newly completed pharmacy.  A local youth choir welcomed the 
CODEL and the delegation members were given the opportunity 
to interact with ARV patients. 
 
¶14.  (U) Talk Radio 702.  Chairman Berman and Congressman 
Payne then conducted a live telephone interview with Stephen 
Grootes, a reporter for Talk Radio 702, South Africa's most 
influential radio station which targets an estimated 300,000 
urban commuters during the rush hour on their way to and from 
work.  Grootes spoke to Chairman Berman about the recent 
passage of legislation which will remove anti-apartheid 
activists from the U.S. terrorist list.  He then talked with 
Congressman Payne about the U.S. Congress' plans to renew and 
expand funding for PEPFAR.  The interview received broad 
coverage that afternoon. 
 
¶15.  (U) State-owned SABC television reported on July 4 that 
President Bush signed the law removing Nelson Mandela from 
the list of terrorists.  The article quoted liberally from 
Chairman Berman's press release about the bill that he 
sponsored. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16.  (U) CODEL Berman was able to meet with a wide variety of 
South African public and private sector officials during this 
extended visit.  The delegation was also able to engage on a 
range of regional and bilateral issues, including the 
political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe.  A series of TV, 
radio and newspaper interviews on July 3-4 helped publicize 
what the U.S. is doing in and for South Africa, from PEPFAR 
and AGOA to the recently passed legislation removing 
anti-apartheid activists from the U.S. terrorist list.  The 
U.S. Embassy thanks CODEL Berman for creating the opportunity 
and working with the press to get this positive message to 
the South African public. 
BOST