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RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0402
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 000457 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/S, AF/RSA, PM/RSAT, PM/PPA, L/PM 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2019 
TAGS: PREL MASS EAID KPKO SADC BC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH SADC DIRECTOR FOR PEACE 
AND SECURITY 
 
REF: A. STATE 57332 
     ¶B. GABORONE 209 
     ¶C. STATE 18852 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Stephen J. Nolan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: As part of post's ongoing efforts to increase 
engagement with SADC, Ambassador met with Lt. Gen. (rtd.) 
Tanki Mothae, the Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence, 
and Security, at the SADC headquarters in Gaborone on June 8, 
¶2009.  The Ambassador reiterated our request that U.S. 
military observers be allowed to take part in the upcoming 
SADC military exercise "Golfhino" to be held in South Africa 
in September.  He also explained to Mothae that the USG is 
interested in deepening its ties with SADC, including on 
peace and security matters.  The Ambassador briefed Mothae 
about ways in which the USG is already engaging with most 
SADC members states on both civilian and military security 
matters, including ILEA and ACOTA.  Mothae was gracious and 
open during the 90-minute meeting, and he pledged to improve 
communication between Embassy Gaborone and the SADC 
Secretariat.  Though he will need to get back to us with 
detailed answers on the questions regarding implementation of 
the Presidential Directive on U.S. Security Cooperation with 
SADC, Mothae did agree verbally that U.S. observers would be 
welcome at the Golfhino exercise.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
Background 
---------- 
¶2. (C) Ambassador Nolan sent a letter to Southern African 
Development Committee (SADC) Executive Secretary June 5 
regarding U.S.- SADC military cooperation, and followed up 
the same day with a phone call to Salomao.  During their 
telephone conversation, the Ambassador reminded Salomao that 
the USG has been trying to follow up with SADC regarding 
information needed to start the process of implementing the 
January 2009 Presidential Determination (PD), but that staff 
from the Organ on Defence, Politics, and Security have been 
unresponsive to our inquiries.  Dr. Salomao promised to raise 
the issue immediately with Lieutenant General (retired) Tanki 
Mothae, the Organ's Director.  Apparently Salomao's 
instruction to Mothae worked, because Mothae phoned the 
Ambassador around close of business Friday June 5 and set up 
a meeting with the Ambassador and Pol/Econ Chief for Monday 
June 8. 
 
 
(C) Organ Director: Open but Overwhelmed? 
----------------------------------------- 
¶3. (C) Ambassador and Pol/Econ Chief met with Lt. Gen. Mothae 
in his office at the SADC headquarters for approximately 90 
minutes on June 8.  Mothae scrambled to find a staff member 
to sit in on the meeting, and Ms. Linda Ramokate, the 
Politics and Diplomacy Officer, joined the meeting a few 
minutes late.  Mothae has been in his position since December 
¶2006.  He informed us that he is a retired officer of the 
Lesotho Defence Force and that he has been to the United 
States twice for military training (Fort Meade for Public 
Affairs training and Fort Bragg for Psy Ops and Civil Affairs 
training, years unspecified).  He apologized for the 
difficulty in contacting him sooner, but explained that his 
staff is quite small (he would never specify how many) and 
their responsibilities are quite broad.  He also noted that 
he travels frequently, previously often to Harare and more 
recently to Madagascar due to the crisis.  He also spends 
time in Swaziland, the current Chair of the Organ Troika. 
According to Mothae, his section of SADC is responsible for 
four main sectors: politics and diplomacy; defense; state 
security; and public security (which includes diverse areas 
like customs, corrections, wildlife, and refugees).  He also 
said that his section will soon be responsible for police 
issues within SADC. 
 
¶4. (C) The Ambassador opened the meeting by briefing Mothae 
on the USG request to send military observers to the upcoming 
Golfhino exercise and our desire for deeper peace and 
security cooperation with SADC.  He gave Lt. Gen. Mothae 
several copies of the Presidential Determination as well as 
the questions that we would like SADC to answer to begin the 
process of a Section 505 agreement needed to implement the PD 
(ref A and previous).  Mothae thanked the Ambassador for his 
 
GABORONE 00000457  002 OF 003 
 
 
visit and said he had wanted to be in touch with the U.S. 
Embassy on peace and security matters "for a long time."  He 
explained that some of his major challenges at present are 
working on a common SADC visa (akin to the Schengen visa for 
EU countries), launching the SADC Brigade as part of the 
African Union's Stand-by Force, elections this year in a 
number of member states, working on a SADC "Early Warning 
System" information network, ongoing unrest in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo, and of course the crises in Zimbabwe and 
more recently Madagascar.  The Ambassador briefed Mothae 
about the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in 
Botswana, and noted that SADC should get to know the facility 
and its programs as most member states are taking part.  He 
also told Mothae about the U.S. ACOTA program and the role 
that ACOTA has played in peacekeeping training for various 
African militaries.  Mothae was eager to visit ILEA in future 
and interested in the ACOTA concept. 
 
 
Madagascar 
---------- 
¶5. (C) Lt. Gen. Mothae was quite concerned about Madagascar's 
future.  He said that although SADC suspended the nation 
after its coup, that the regional body must ensure that 
Madagascar is restored to membership soon, under proper 
governance.  The Ambassador praised SADC's firm stance 
against the coup in Madagascar and noted that the USG is in 
contact with the UN, AU, and of course SADC to try to help 
resolve the political crisis.  He explained that the U.S. 
supports early elections for the island, perhaps by the end 
of 2009.  Mothae agreed that new elections would be key, and 
he said that he had no faith that the HAT could oversee new 
elections or a democratic transition.  He told us that a 
representative from his staff at the secretariat is in 
Madagascar "all the time" (though the staff members rotate in 
this duty) and that there are also SADC representatives in 
Antananarivo from each of the SADC troika member states 
(usually from their Foreign Affairs or Defense ministries). 
According to Mothae, the SADC Representative in Madagascar 
returned from the island last week and has briefed the SADC 
Chairman as well as the Organ Troika members and the 
Secretariat staff.  Mothae explained that he has not yet had 
a chance to discuss the latest news with Executive Secretary 
Salomao or to decide on a way ahead for SADC before a summit 
is called.  The real issue, Mothae said, is how to encourage 
early elections.  He explained that Madagascar in his view 
"has no real electoral law" and desperately needs security 
sector reform. 
 
 
The Way Ahead 
-------------- 
¶6. (C) At the close of the meeting, Lt. Gen. Mothae told the 
Ambassador that he has approved our request to send U.S. 
military observers to the Golfhino exercise.  (Note: We hope 
to soon recieve a formal written reply agreeing to our 
written request to send observers to Golfhino.  End note.) 
He also promised to meet with us again "soon" to discuss what 
kind of security assistance SADC might need and talk about 
the questions we need answered before moving forward with 
greater defense cooperation.  However, Mothae also noted that 
he will be in Swaziland from June 19 to the end of the month, 
and then at the African Union in early July, and wrapped up 
with organizing the annual SADC summit in August.  He 
stressed however that he believes SADC needs urgent support 
on democracy and good governance, including training election 
observers and a civilian component for its upcoming exercise 
and broader Stand-by Force mandate, and finally he hoped to 
work with SADC's "International Cooperating Partners" to 
establish SADC expertise on mediation and conflict 
prevention. 
 
 
A Small Step Forward... 
------------------------ 
¶7. (C) COMMENT: Embassy Officers have been pursuing a meeting 
with Mothae or one of his subordinates for at least 4 months, 
but our letters, calls and emails went unanswered.  This 
90-minute meeting with Mothae, though not groundbreaking in 
content, represents a step forward in establishing a more 
regular and productive dialogue with the SADC secretariat, 
particularly on vital peace and security matters.  We are 
 
GABORONE 00000457  003 OF 003 
 
 
hopeful that the right office at SADC has finally gotten the 
full message about our Presidential Determination and the 
information needed by the Department to proceed with it. 
However, the ball remains in SADC's court to provide written 
responses to the questions as outlined in Ref A.  SADC's 
Directorate for Politics, Defense, and Security is clearly 
small and overwhelmed by dealing with regional political 
crises and organizing meetings on a whole host of security 
topics, ranging from customs, to peacekeeping, to human 
trafficking.  Despite their open attitudes during our 
meeting, they may be stretched too thin to provide the level 
of information we want in timely fashion.  Post will continue 
to follow up and try to keep the issue of defense cooperation 
with the USG high on their radar screens.  END COMMENT. 
NOLAN