VZCZCXRO9167
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHSA #1983/01 2741441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011441Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9736
INFO RUEHSB/AMEMBASSY HARARE 3898
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 6135
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 7184
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 1268
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 9549

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 001983 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PHUM SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA REAFFIRMS PROGRESSIVE STANCE ON 
MIGRATION 
 
REF: A. 08 PRETORIA 1549 
     ¶B. PRETORIA 1959 
     ¶C. PRETORIA 1740 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) In a September 21 keynote speech to a regional 
intergovernmental workshop on migration, Department of Home 
Affairs (DHA) Deputy Minister Malusi Gigaba forcefully 
reiterated the SAG's commitment to freedom of movement. 
Nations must shift their paradigms on migration, he said, to 
see it as a source of economic development to be embraced not 
resisted.  Border controls should aim to document movement, 
protect vulnerable migrants, and facilitate labor exchanges 
beneficial to both source and destination countries. 
Gigaba's address affirmed that the former Mbeki 
administration's liberal stance on migration was set to 
continue under President Zuma, despite xenophobic risks and 
other political pressures.  He welcomed the suggestion of 
meetings between the Embassy and himself and/or Minister 
Dlamini-Zuma.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------- 
Migration as a Plus (not Minus) 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Gigaba urged his regional neighbors to make a 
paradigm shift, to see migration not as a "nuisance" but 
rather as a positive engine of development.  While 
globalization had facilitated mobility for skilled and 
affluent migrants, he said, the movement of poor and 
low-skilled workers was restricted and often risky.  This was 
because the migration debate was "littered with 
misconceptions" -- e.g. that migrants cause crime and drain 
resources, or that mobility could even be stemmed.  Migration 
was seen by both developing and developed countries as a 
problem to be combated, despite what he said was the fact 
that most countries were built by migrants, and migration 
remained an essential element of nation-building.  He added 
that migration should be viewed in light of its mutual 
benefits to both source and destination countries: 
remittances were a crucial road out of poverty for the 
former, while young labor was vital to the declining 
populations of the latter.  Integration of growing numbers of 
migrants was not only inevitable, but also beneficial to 
development. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Strategic Management (not Restrictions) 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The Deputy Minister argued that human capital 
mobility should be proactively managed, not combated or 
ignored.  Since labor movement was "a fact," and a growing 
trend "from which no country is immune," the challenge was to 
harness it proactively and strategically for socio-economic 
development.  In public policy, migration should be 
integrated explicitly into development strategies and 
planning frameworks, he said.  The right approach would 
balance skilled professionals and working class laborers. 
Regional efforts could help mitigate brain-drain effects, 
which plagued Southern African countries (particularly in the 
health and education sectors) -- lest emigration of skilled 
workers perpetuate global economic disparities between first 
and third worlds.  Gigaba called for government initiatives 
to draw professionals from the overseas diaspora back home, 
to contribute to the development of their countries of origin. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Regularization -- to Ensure Protection 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Moving from development rationales to a human rights 
perspective, Gigaba said the goal of immigration policy was 
to regularize cross-border movement, in order to minimize 
Qto regularize cross-border movement, in order to minimize 
illegal crossings where migrants were vulnerable to harm. 
"Migration is about people, and... the protection of the 
human rights of all migrants is a political and ethical 
imperative."  Gigaba explicitly extended this duty to both 
regular and irregular migrants, "including those regarded as 
illegal."  Echoing the constant refrain of refugee advocacy 
groups, he warned that migration management must not be 
"singularly obsessed with security," saying that only shared 
development could guarantee long-term regional stability. 
Border control (which "does not mean the same thing as 
 
PRETORIA 00001983  002 OF 003 
 
 
immigration control") should aim to document movement, 
protect migrants, and enable mutually beneficial labor 
exchange, the latter with decent wages and other safeguards. 
Gigaba added that special attention was due to female 
migrants, who fell prey to abuses like trafficking. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Interagency, Multi-level, and Multilateral 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) The Deputy Minister stressed that migration 
management required collaboration across government agencies, 
at all levels, and outreach to non-governmental actors. 
Integration of migrants was a matter that cut across myriad 
public services, and hence it could not be considered the 
sole responsibility of the Ministries of Home Affairs, 
Interior, or Immigration.  Moreover, all tiers of government 
-- not just national or provincial, but especially the local 
level where service delivery occurred -- must treat migrants 
fairly.  Officials must further collaborate with private 
sector businesses, labor unions, and NGOs, and encourage 
public dialogue.  To support policy with fact, governments 
must work with research institutions to generate credible 
data and statistics.  Finally, beyond national borders, 
countries must forge bilateral agreements such as visa 
waivers and regional initiatives such as the Free Movement 
Protocol of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Zimbabwe Policy: Easing "Push" Factors 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Turning to migration's impact on foreign policy, 
Gigaba addressed the sensitive subject of Zimbabwe, whose 
exodus of migrants over the last year has been the dominant 
migration effect on neighboring states.  With diplomatic 
phrasing, Gigaba said that reducing irregular migration would 
depend on addressing the "root causes of migration and forced 
displacements" which are "push factors."  In this context, he 
urged support for Zimbabwe's Global Political Agreement and 
the lifting of international sanctions.  Gigaba lamented that 
many undocumented Zimbabwean migrants fell victim to criminal 
gangs during unsafe border crossings, and to labor abuses in 
destination countries.  (Comment: many comments during the 
workshop implicitly referred to troubles in Zimbabwe, but 
this was a rare occasion when the country was mentioned by 
name.  For their part, Zimbabwe's delegates made the surreal 
suggestion during Q&A that the key push factor not to be 
overlooked was climate change.  End Comment.) 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Follow-up: Minister-Ambassador Meetings 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) In an offline conversation with poloff, the Deputy 
Minister welcomed the prospect of top-level meetings between 
Home Affairs and the Embassy.  Minister Nkosazana 
Dlamini-Zuma (previously Minister of Foreign Affairs), he 
said, had voiced her interest in greater interaction with the 
diplomatic community.  Gigaba suggested that the U.S. 
consider two meetings, one with the Minister and one with 
himself, since their portfolios were very different -- she 
focused on broad policies, and he on migration and 
counter-xenophobia.  When poloff noted that Ambassador Gips 
would be credentialed on the same day with his counterparts 
from the U.K. and Canada, giving rise to the possibility of a 
joint meeting, Gigaba was receptive to the idea of a 
collective session.  (Note: the same day, Duncan Breen of the 
Qcollective session.  (Note: the same day, Duncan Breen of the 
NGO Consortium for Refugees and Migrants (CORMSA) phoned to 
say Gigaba was organizing an interagency working group of SAG 
deputy ministers on migrant-related issues, and Breen would 
suggest that the USG be invited to observe.  End Note.) 
----------------------------------- 
Doors Still Open (Against the Odds) 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8.   (SBU) COMMENT: This was a landmark address, clearly and 
unstintingly in favor of human mobility at a time when the 
SAG's progressive immigration policies are under pressure. 
Gigaba has made similar remarks before, most notably in the 
sensitive aftermath of mid-2008 xenophobic violence (ref A). 
The reaffirmation of SAG openness to migrants was especially 
significant, however, at an intergovernmental forum of the 
planners who shape neighbor states' policies, 
interdependently with South Africa.  The speech conveys 
continuity from the Mbeki to Zuma administrations (as does 
Gigaba himself, who remained in office under a change of 
 
PRETORIA 00001983  003 OF 003 
 
 
Minister).  That continuity is despite a shift from Mbeki's 
pan-African orientation to Zuma's more domestic focus, and 
despite 2008's xenophobic attacks which could have prompted 
an anti-immigrant turn.  Finally, Home Affairs sources have 
warned that some in the ruling ANC favor a more restrictive 
policy, and some SADC countries are indeed becoming more 
migrant-intolerant (ref B) -- so the SAG's commitment to 
migration has overcome both domestic political resistance and 
regional conservative trends.  As a member of the ANC's 
National Executive Committee (NEC), Gigaba carries the 
authority of the core of the governing party. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Sterling policies emanating from 
the ministry are a good start.  As Gigaba acknowledges, 
however, South Africa still has much work to do to make those 
policies a reality on the ground.  Operating-level SAG 
officers continue to mistreat migrants, and little has been 
done to combat xenophobic prejudices (ref C).  End Comment. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Post Script: Top-Level Praise from UNHCR 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) On September 29, Minister Dlamini-Zuma addressed the 
UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)' annual Executive 
Committee meeting in Geneva, where High Commissioner Antonio 
Guterres praised South Africa's migration policies as being 
among the best in the world. 
GIPS