VZCZCXRO8409
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHSA #1103/01 1531420
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021420Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8675
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1400
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 6913
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 1026
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 9263
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 001103 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM ASEC SF PGOV
SUBJECT: FREEDOM FRONT PLUS YOUTH LEADER BARELY HANGING ON 
TO POSITION 
 
REF: PRETORIA 000666 
 
PRETORIA 00001103  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Freedom Front Plus Youth League leader Cornelius 
van Rensburg offered his version of why he was suspended 
after criticizing party leader Pieter Mulder's decision to 
join President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet on May 10.  Van Rensburg 
sees little hope for resuming his position -- he has retained 
a lawyer -- but his comments demonstrate why he is more than 
the ill-disciplined firebrand portrayed in the media.  End 
Summary. 
 
-------------------------- 
Speaking Out Has its Costs 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  FFP Youth League leader van Rensburg met with 
Poloffs on May 29 to discuss his future in the party.  Van 
Rensburg last month was suspended by party leadership for 
speaking out publicly against FFP President Mulder's decision 
to join Zuma's Cabinet.  (Note: Mulder opted to serve as the 
Deputy Agricultural Minister in Zuma's Cabinet.  Before the 
April 22 election, Post reported that the Freedom Front was 
considering a strategic alliance with the African National 
Congress.  See Reftel for more information.  End Note).  Van 
Rensburg firmly reiterated his claim that Mulder did not 
discuss with the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) 
his plan to join the government before announcing his 
decision.  Van Rensburg said, "I have been on the (party's) 
NEC since I was elected as a Tshwane city councilor in 2006. 
There was never a meeting to discuss his (Mulder's) decision 
or a telephone conversation.  There was nothing."  He noted 
that Mulder's decision was based on his desire to secure a 
pension, not based on what is best for the FFP politically. 
Van Rensburg claimed, "Zuma's people had been courting him 
for months and he caved to better his financial situation." 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Van Rensburg, who has been described as the 
"Afrikaner Julius Malema" for his willingness to speak out 
without consulting party leadership, said it is sad that "in 
African politics one cannot speak without first consulting 
with the tribal chief."  He noted that Mulder went to the 
National Executive Committee on May 23 to ensure that the 
party's earlier decision (taken on May 11) to censure him 
would be upheld.  The FFP's NEC subsequently upheld the 
decision, and he described his chances as "slim" for resuming 
as the party's youth leader.  He stated, "I have organized 
legal representation so I can protect my political position 
and my reputation ... It is the best I can do." 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
A Glimpse Inside An Afrikaner Political Party 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  On the margins of his comments on his recent 
struggles, van Rensburg offered a rare glimpse into life 
inside the Afrikaner community's largest political body.  The 
FFP met once a week during the election campaign to discuss 
strategies and plans for winning new voters and ensuring 
voter turnout for the party's registered voters.  He said 
that now that the election is over, the FFP is meeting once 
every few weeks to discuss plans for the local election in 
¶2011.  Although his suspension has kept him from attending 
those meetings, van Rensburg said there are real divisions 
being worked out internally about where the FFP needs to go 
to ensure positive results in the municipal poll.  He said, 
Qto ensure positive results in the municipal poll.  He said, 
"There are those in the party who want to see us beholden to 
our farming roots and those in the party, including myself, 
who recognize that we need metro representation to survive 
21st century South African politics."  In many ways, he 
thinks his suspension is a part of this tension. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  He also thinks that his remarks have given an 
opening to those seeking to settle old scores.  He claimed, 
"The party members going after me the hardest right now are 
those guys associated with the University of the Free State." 
 According to him, "those guys" are youth leaders who played 
a role in the aftermath of a 2007 incident at the University 
of the Free State where white students videotaped demeaning 
 
PRETORIA 00001103  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
acts conducted against black university employees.  The 
videotape was viewed across the world online.  He said, "As 
the youth leader then, I came down hard on the university 
branch of our party for not acting quickly enough to denounce 
the situation there.  I criticized their statements and 
actions following the incident and they now see my censure as 
a way to get payback."  He warned that should the youth 
leaders from the University of the Free State get the upper 
hand following his cenure and assume greater representation 
in the party, the FFP will be finished.  He said, "We should 
be focused on winning support in Cape Town, Pretoria, and 
greater Gauteng, not worried about what some right-wing young 
people think in Bloemfontein." 
 
¶6. (SBU)  He stated that it is ironic that Mulder's decision 
to accept a Cabinet position is "good in the sense that he 
cannot be both the FFP's parliamentary leader and a minister 
at the same time."  With Mulder probably spending more time 
in Pretoria than in Cape Town, van Rensburg sees junior 
parliamentary member William Spies assuming a greater role in 
the party.  Van Rensburg said, "Nothing could be better 
because Spies is a new face and can help us grow."  According 
to van Rensburg, the FFP will always be popular on university 
campuses -- now more than ever that Blade Nzimande is 
Minister for Higher Education -- but needs to target the 
young and newly employed to stay relevant. 
 
------- 
Comment 
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¶7. (SBU)  Although it appears increasingly unlikely that van 
Rensburg will return as the FFP's youth leader, his private 
comments show that he is more than another Malema.  He has 
serious ideas about why Mulder's decision to accept a Cabinet 
position was not in the best interest of the party and about 
where the party needs to go to remain a viable voice for the 
Afrikaner in the 21st century.  The old apartheid era 
National Party leadership collectively joined the African 
National Congress years ago, leaving the FFP as the sole 
independent voice of the Afrikaner community.  Zuma,s 
outreach to that community -- including Mulder,s appointment 
-- has apparently paid dividends for the ANC and also opened 
debate regarding the future of that white community during 
the next phase of the ANC,s transformation policies.  Such 
ideas will need further debate within the party and, 
ultimately, implementation beyond Mulder to help the party at 
the municipal level in 2011. 
LA LIME