VZCZCXRO2419
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHOR #0567/01 2021307
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 211307Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY GABORONE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5906
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GABORONE 000567 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/S, PM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2019 
TAGS: PREL MASS SADC BC
SUBJECT: AMB, SADC HEAD DISCUSS ZIMBABWE, MADAGASCAR, 
MILITARY ISSUES 
 
REF: STATE 70664 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Stephen J. Nolan for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Ambassador Nolan met with Dr. Tomaz 
Salomao, Executive Secretary of the Southern African 
Development Community (SADC) on July 15 at SADC House to 
deliver reftel demarche on Zimbabwe and discuss other 
pending issues.  According to Salomao, SADC believes that 
all requests to review problems in Zimbabwe should come 
through the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee 
(JOMIC), since JOMIC is the officially recognized mechanism 
to resolve disputes under the Global Political Agreement 
(GPA).  Salomao said that he has told the Movement for 
Democratic Change (MDC) to bring their concerns to SADC 
through the JOMIC, but that this has not yet happened. 
SADC will not press Zimbabwe on the date for new elections, 
according to Dr. Salomao because the GPA does not establish 
a specific timetable.  The Ambassador and Salomao also 
briefly discussed the upcoming AGOA forum, Madagascar, and 
security cooperation.  Ambassador Nolan also spoke to Lt. 
Gen. Tanki Mothae, Director of the SADC Organ on Politics, 
Defense, and Security, July 16 about Zimbabwe and security 
cooperation.  Mothae promised that the USG would be invited 
soon to observe Golfhino and gave an update on SADC's 
response on defense cooperation.   END SUMMARY. 
 
Zimbabwe: Bring Complaints Through JOMIC, No Elections 
Timetable 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
-------------------------------- 
¶2.  (C)  Ambassador Nolan met with SADC Executive Secretary 
Dr. Tomaz Salomao July 15 at SADC House.  The Ambassador 
delivered reftel A demarche on Zimbabwe and encouraged SADC 
to continue to use its good offices to resolve outstanding 
problems with GPA implementation and assist the 
transitional government in Zimbabwe to succeed.  The 
Ambassador asked what response SADC had made to the MDC's 
May 21 request to review challenges to the spirit and the 
law of the GPA.  Dr. Salomao said that he did not receive 
this request until June 20th during the World Economic 
Forum in Cape Town.  He also explained that under the GPA, 
the JOMIC was established to deal with problems such as 
these.  Therefore, he felt that it was improper for the MDC 
to bring this request to SADC unilaterally rather than 
through the JOMIC.  Though he has advised  MDC to bring 
their concerns to SADC through JOMIC, according to SADC has 
not received any such request (from JOMIC) regarding the 
allegations.  Salomao also explained that SADC made a 
conscious decision to focus their June 20 summit agenda on 
Madagascar, and for that reason they decided not to "muddy 
the waters" by also delving into Zimbabwe issues with GPA 
implementation. 
 
¶3. (C)  Dr. Salomao made it clear that he did not believe 
SADC should pressure Zimbabwe regarding the timing of new 
elections, noting that no timetable was specified in the 
GPA.    Dr. Salomao agreed that the next election in 
Zimbabwe would be important, but noted that timing would 
have to be agreed by the parties themselves and not imposed 
from outside.  Dr. Salomao was willing to concede that 
there were some issues moving too slowly, in particular 
decisions about the continued tenure of the Reserve Bank 
Governor and Attorney General.  He stated that many 
Zimbabweans tell him the country is now more stable and 
peaceful, but he also said that "this is a difficult 
process and it is a difficult thing to ensure that the 
parties are coming together to deal with the difficult 
problems."  Dr. Salomao indicated his main concern was the 
protection of the Zimbabwean people, specifically whether 
the police and the Home Affairs Ministry were carrying out 
their responsibilities evenhandedly.  He claimed he was now 
hearing reports that, in some villages where there is now 
greater support for the MDC, MDC supporters are "harassing" 
ZANU-PF supporters. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Dr. Salomao said that the GOZ is due to submit a 
report on its progress to SADC in September.  In the 
meantime, Salomao plans to talk to both President Mugabe 
and Prime Minister Tsvangirai "soon" (as he hasn't spoken 
with them both since June 8) to get a direct reading on how 
things are progressing.  In a conversation on July 16, Lt. 
Gen. Tanki Mothae said that there was a ministerial level 
meeting on politics and diplomacy taking place in Swaziland 
the weekend of July 18, and that this meeting would receive 
updates and reports on peace and security and human rights 
issues, and that Zimbabwe would be one of the items on the 
 
GABORONE 00000567  002 OF 002 
 
 
agenda. 
 
 
AGOA, Madagascar, and Defense Cooperation 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
¶5.  (C)  Ambassador Nolan asked Dr. Salomao whether he had 
received his invitation to the upcoming AGOA Forum in 
Nairobi.  Dr. Salomao stated that he was not yet certain if 
he would be attending, as he was still consulting to see if 
it "would be appropriate."  (Comment: Post was uncertain 
exactly what this comment meant, but wondered if Salomao 
was reluctant to appear to be getting too close to the 
Unites States - a common criticism often leveled by some 
leaders in Southern Africa - by attending a forum on a 
major U.S. initiative.  End Comment.) 
 
¶6.  (C) Regarding Madagascar, Dr. Salomao says that he has 
been closely following the efforts to get the parties to 
talk.  He said that former President Chissano has been in 
touch with all parties in the last week and that they are 
interested in negotiating.  However, according to Salmao, 
SADC is still working out details to enable negotiations. 
 
¶7. (C) Turning to security cooperation, the Ambassador 
reminded the Executive Secretary that the USG is still 
awaiting responses to our communications earlier this year 
regarding USG participation in the SADC military exercise 
"Golfhino" as well as the broader offer to begin defense 
cooperation with SADC.   He assured Salomao that the USG is 
still interested engaging with and supporting SADC's 
standby brigade.  Dr. Salomao encouraged the Ambassador to 
follow-up with Lt. Gen. Mothae, which he did on July 16. 
Mothae explained that a generic invitation to Golfhino will 
be issued soon, at which point we can reply to SADC 
regarding the exact composition of our observer 
delegation.  Regarding the outstanding information the USG 
requires from SADC to move forward on implementing the 
Presidential Determination on defense cooperation, Mothae 
explained that he personally was the drafter of SADC's 
response to the detailed set of USG questions.  He 
apologized for the tardy reply but assured the Ambassador 
he was working on a response, but that he simply had not 
found time to complete it.  The Ambassador thanked Mothae 
for his efforts and encouraged him to provide at least an 
interim reply as soon as possible, in order to begin the 
process. 
 
NOLAN