US embassy cable - 05GABORONE1203

C O N F I D E N T I A L  GABORONE 001203 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S MUNCY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, ETRD, RW, WZ, ZI, ZU, BC, SADC, Zimbabwe 
SUBJECT: SADC SUMMIT KEEPS STUDIED SILENCE ON ZIMBABWE 
 
REF: GABORONE 1099 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Lois Aroian for Reasons 1.4 (B) a 
nd (D) 
 
1. (U)  SUMMARY:  The "Silver Jubilee" Southern African 
Development Community (SADC) Summit held in Gaborone August 
17-18 tackled no thorny issues.  Incoming SADC Chair, 
Botswana President Festus Mogae, urged concrete steps to make 
SADC effective. The regional leaders did not speak out on 
Zimbabwe. They appointed a new Mozambican-Angolan duo to lead 
the SADC Secretariat, welcomed Madagascar as a member, and 
deferred a decision on Rwanda's membership.  The Summit voted 
on but did not pass a Protocol on the Free Movement of People 
within the region, partly because of Botswana's reservations 
about the likely increased immigration from poorer to richer 
states.  For the first time, an NGO summit preceded the 
official event and, despite the predictable lack of focus, 
issued a communiqu demanding greater respect for human 
rights, better governance, and freer trade.  END SUMMARY 
 
FOCUS ON ENHANCING EFFECTIVENESS 
 
2. (U)  The theme of President Mogae's acceptance speech as 
incoming chair was the need to improve the operational 
effectiveness of SADC.  He pointed to slow implementation of 
the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, the 
belated conclusion of the feasibility study for the new SADC 
headquarters, and the tendency for members to sign, 
ratify and ignore regional protocols.  Mogae called for a 
mechanism to ensure implementation of protocols, 
particularly the Trade Protocol, greater focus on prioritized 
regional objectives, and cost saving measures 
by the Secretariat. 
 
3. (SBU)  Mogae asked that newly appointed Executive 
Secretary Tomas Augusto Salomao of Mozambique, focus on 
 
SIPDIS 
achieving these objectives.  Mr. Salomao is a former Minister 
of Planning and Finance as well as of Transport and 
Communications.  Joao Samuel Caholo, of Angola, will be his 
deputy.  Mr. Caholo previously directed the SADC Energy 
Commission and is a former Deputy Minister of Fisheries in 
the Angolan Government.  (Comment: A SADC-country diplomat 
had expressed certainty that the female Botswana candidate 
would win the deputy slot, owing to SADC's commitment to 
female empowerment and the impossibility of having two 
Portuguese speakers in the top positions. End comment.) 
 
SADC SUMMIT AVOIDS PUBLIC COMMENT ON ZIMBABWE 
 
4. (U)  At an August 18 press conference, President Mogae 
explained that the Summit had not deliberated on the 
situation in Zimbabwe because no country had included that 
subject in the agenda.  He added that while Botswana and 
other neighbors advise Zimbabwe's leaders "privately and in 
confidence," they cannot do more.  This was reaffirmed that 
same day when former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, 
named by the AUto mediate in Zimbabwe, told the press that 
the overnment of Zimbabwe did not need his assistance n 
settling its internal disputes.  Mogae's 
accptance speech as Chair includd a paean to Mugabe as a 
founding father of SADC ("you did it all for us") that was 
a reminder of the residual goodwill toward Mugabe, rooted in 
the liberation history of the region. Mugabe received a warm 
public welcome at the Summit sessions and dinner. 
 
RWANDA MEMBERSHIP DEFERRED 
 
5.  (C)  While Rwanda's membership was on the agenda, the 
Summit deferred the issue.  Botswana contacts told Charge 
that Rwanda had not yet qualified for membership, but 
tensions with the DRC were certainly a main reason for 
postponing a decision.  SADC also seems undecided on the 
appropriate geographical parameters for membership. 
(Comment: Rwanda reportedly was one of the difficult issues 
that caused the official Summit closing to start three and a 
half hours late.  End comment). 
 
REGIONAL REDISTRIBUTION KEY TO FOOD SECURITY 
 
6. (U)  The Summit's communiqu emphasized that, taken as a 
whole, the SADC region is self-sufficient in maize and that 
member countries need to mobilize resources to import food 
from neighbors with grain surpluses to prevent hunger 
(reftel).  In his welcome address, President Mogae appealed 
to the international community for emergency assistance 
but noted that, in the long term, SADC countries would have 
to adopt policies to enhance agriculture output. 
 
NGO SUMMIT SEEKS ACTION ON ZIMBABWE AND OTHER ISSUES 
 
7. (U)  For the first time, the annual SADC summit was 
preceded by a parallel civil society event.  The SADC 
Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (SADC-CNGO) and the 
Media Institute of Southern Africa hosted a conference 
of civil society organizations from around the region August 
14-16 in Gaborone.  The purpose of the event was to 
articulate a common agenda and to begin to exert some 
pressure on the SADC heads of state to respond to 
accordingly. 
 
8. (U)  The participants' concerns, as reflected in their 
discussions and the resulting communiqu, addressed a range 
of civil and human rights issues as well as economic growth 
and employment creation.  These included absence of 
legislation facilitating access to information, the 
harassment of journalists, the antagonistic attitude that 
governments in the region tend to adopt toward civil society 
organizations who hope to influence public policy, 
and insufficient action to promote gender equality. 
 
9. (U)  A focus group on regional integration castigated 
governments for their slow pace in lowering barriers to trade 
within the region, describing that as a source of 
unemployment and poverty.  Delegates repeatedly expressed 
dissatisfaction with the regional response to HIV/AIDS.  In a 
panel dedicated to the situations in Zimbabwe and Swaziland, 
participants deplored the failure of regional heads of state 
to take any action to encourage the two regimes to respect 
their citizens' human and civil rights.  The communiqu 
called upon the Summit to urge the Mugabe regime to accept 
the findings and act on the recommendations of the UN Special 
Envoy to Zimbabwe on Operation 
Murambatsvina. 
 
10. (U)  Participants were clearly feeling their way into 
what they described as, for most, the new territory of 
policy advocacy.  Consequently, their deliberations 
frequently lacked direction and concrete strategy 
suggestions.  Nonetheless, the convening of this assembly and 
the production of a communiqu represented an important 
step toward enhancing democratic accountability in the region. 
 
COMMENT 
 
11. (SBU)  The official SADC summit underscored that Mugabe's 
historical role as a liberation leader and solidarity 
within the region's ruling elite remain more powerful 
influences on foreign policy than the adverse impacts of 
the situation in Zimbabwe on each member country. It remains 
to be seen whether civil society organizations will follow 
through on their commitment to engage their leaders, despite 
the obstacles to doing so, in order to demand solutions to 
their problems - particularly pertaining to human and civil 
rights, poverty, and health.  This underscores the wisdom and 
value of working with these groups and building their 
capacity to deepen democracy in Southern Africa. 
AROIAN 
 
 
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