AN INTIMATE VIEW INTO THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY UNIT

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 002649 SIPDIS AF/S PLEASE PASS TO A/S FRAZER E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2018 TAGS: KJUS PGOV KDEM SF SUBJECT: AN INTIMATE VIEW INTO THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY UNIT REF: PRETORIA 2544 PRETORIA 00002649 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MADELINE Q. SEIDENSTRICKER FO R REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (S//NF) Policy analysts in the Presidency's Policy Unit discussed the challenges of job security, pleasing new policymakers, and crafting effective policies in a meeting with Poloff on December 4. Deputy Director General of Policy Coordination and Advisory Services for the Presidency Vusi Gumede, analyst Thabileng Mothabi and analyst Queeneth Mlaba each discussed how loyalties in the Presidency are shifting, how hard it is to meet the needs of new Cabinet ministers and their deputies, and how policies may look in coming years as South Africa moves away from the Thabo Mbeki years into the Kgalema Motlanthe and, perhaps, the Jacob Zuma years. Insight from the Unit into these challenges and into how the Cabinet views Zimbabwe and other critical issues would have been nearly unthinkable during the Mbeki administration. The fact that Unit analysts were so candid in a social setting demonstrates how the fall of Mbeki, the rise of Zuma, and the split of the ANC that led to the creation of the Congress of the People (COPE) has created anxieties and challenges that offer opportunities for greater understanding of the government. End Summary. -------------- Inside the Policy Unit -------------- ¶2. (S//NF) The President's Policy Unit is the most prestigious, important decision-making body for the South African Government. Headed by one of the government's leading intellectuals and policy wonks, Joel Netshitenzhe, the Unit is responsible for drafting research papers on topics ranging from health care and social welfare programs to trade policy and international relations. Currently, there are projects underway looking historically at how the Southern African Development Community's trade regulations compare to those of the European Union and how to motivate South Africans off social grants programs. According to Mothabi, papers going to the President or the Cabinet range anywhere between two pages to 50 pages, and at every Cabinet or Working Group meeting the Policy Unit provides government officials with their own "read books" so they are sure to see what positions the Unit is recommending. In addition to providing research, the Unit frequently is called upon to lead government meetings and to respond to newspaper articles critical of the government. Mothabi noted he "often writes comments to comments (on behalf of the Unit) on the 'Thought Leader,'" the popular intellectual salon on the Mail and Guardian's website. Because of the role the Unit plays, Mothabi said he has "nearly daily contact with almost all of the Cabinet ministers at the Union Buildings." He noted, "We often get multiple emails from either them or the assistants. It is pure madness every day the level of work we do." -------------- Challenges Facing the Policy Unit -------------- ¶3. (S//NF) Gumede, Mothabi, and Mlaba have all said the change from the leadership of Mbeki to Motlanthe -- and presumably to Zuma -- is presenting significant challenges for the Unit. The first challenge is job security. Those loyal to Mbeki have dominated the Unit since its inception, so much so that Mbeki briefly flirted with the idea of Qso much so that Mbeki briefly flirted with the idea of promoting Netshitenzhe as a candidate for the African National Congress (ANC) leadership last year. Job security is such an issue that Mothabi said, "None of us is sure we will have a job after Zuma takes office. It is all about loyalty at this point, and we see people trying to redefine themselves (from being loyal to Mbeki and now to Zuma) almost every day." Mothabi noted in confidence that Gumede is worried about his job because of his close ties to Mbeki. The analysts each agree the anxiety they feel over job security has more to do with the tension over whether to support Mbeki or Zuma than it does over whether to support the ANC or COPE. Mlaba noted that as government officials they are expected to be impartial, but said there is slight PRETORIA 00002649 002.2 OF 003 teasing -- if not tension -- over whether someone supports the ANC or COPE. She playfully called Mothabi, a supporter of COPE, a "misguided one." Even though he is a supporter of COPE, Mothabi noted that the party will not do well until the 2014 election. ¶4. (S//NF) The second challenge is learning how to please new policymakers. Mothabi said that Mbeki did not need much guidance on policies. Rather, he looked to the Unit more for affirmation of plans he intended to make. Under Motlanthe, the Unit has been called upon to actually lead meetings and chair decisions. Mothabi said, "Motlanthe is dumb and does exactly what they (ANC) tell him to do." At a meeting on November 25, Motlanthe reportedly had difficulty grasping the crux of an argument Gumede was making on social policy and finally said, "Gumede, you just lead the meeting." Despite this characterization, Mothabi thought Motlanthe would be President again. He noted, "The ANC is priming him to be a leader for a long time. He captures the jargon more easily than Zuma ... Everyone sees Motlanthe as a caretaker for Zuma, but really the next five years Zuma will be a caretaker for Motlanthe." (Note: Zuma, 66, has said he intends to serve only one term as President if elected. End Note.) He said, "Zuma is an idiot ... I mean really, really dumb on how policy is implemented. You notice that every time he is asked a question he just laughs and smiles and then quietly leans toward Gwede Mantashe (ANC Secretary General) so he can get the answer." He said working with Minister in the Presidency Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is toughest of all because of how she views herself. Mothabi described her as "actually very smart" but said that she is impossible to please. He noted, "If the 'tea woman' serves someone who ranks below her first, Manto will stop everyone and yell at the 'tea woman.' I have seen Deputy Ministers not drink their tea after Manto makes such a scene." Meanwhile, Mothabi and Gumede have taken long lunches at the "News Cafe" in Arcadia to avoid working with new Deputy President Baleka Mbete. Mothabi said, "She is very demanding and wants all of her emails to the Unit answered immediately." ¶5. (S//NF) The third challenge is the policies themselves. Mothabi said, "The Cabinet has no idea what to do about Zimbabwe." At the end of every discussion he has attended, he said, "Everyone just shakes their heads." He did say, however, that a delegation from the Presidency intends to travel to Zimbabwe to see "just how bad the cholera outbreak is" on December 7. He said he spent the last week preparing "read books" for ministers and their deputies on the situation. Asked specifically on policy shifts under a Zuma government, Mothabi responded that he did not foresee any from the Unit's perspective. He said, "Look, most of the guys who support Zuma cannot even get through their 'read books' and the only comments they make are usually along the lines of 'You missed 'a Youth' here or a 'government' there." He said they never debate the policies themselves because they are not in the same league as the Unit's analysts. Gumede, Mothabi, and Mlaba all said it is endlessly frustrating to try to convince some of Zuma's allies to take the Unit's work seriously. -------------- Ancedotes and Bios -------------- Q -------------- ¶6. (S//NF) Gumede, Mothabi, and Mlaba also have provided anecdotes that are salient in understanding the Unit and how the Cabinet functions. Mothabi said on September 21, the day Mbeki announced to the nation that he would resign as national leader, the former South African leader called all Cabinet ministers and deputies along with staffers from the Unit and elsewhere to a meeting to thank them for their hard work. He reportedly began to cry -- "tears streaming" -- as he thanked those in the room and said how proud he was he pursued his policies with conviction. Mothabi said, "He was defiant in the view that he was right." (Note: Such an insight is interesting given how many political analysts and pundits described him as "stoic" as he weathered defeats last year at Polokwane and then in September when the ANC forcibly recalled him. End Note.) Turning to the relationship between Mbeki and Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Mothabi described a telling scene he had witnessed. He said that Mbeki and Sisulu were always extremely close -- reports suggested she was influential in Mbeki's push for a 50/50 gender balance in the party -- until the former President PRETORIA 00002649 003.2 OF 003 named Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as Deputy President. Mothabi said, "At every Cabinet meeting Sisulu sat next to Mbeki. There was always a space for her." Following Mlambo-Ngcuka's appointment as Deputy, there was a Cabinet meeting and Sisulu's chair next to Mbeki still sat empty. The meeting started and Sisulu arrived late. When she arrived, Sisulu elected to sit an the end of the table -- away from Mbeki, leaving her usual seat empty -- and flipped her collar to show Mbeki how angry she was over the appointment. Mothabi said that from then on Mbeki no longer had an important ANC ally. (Note: For more information on the relationship between Mbeki and Sisulu see Reftel. End Note.) ¶7. (S//NF) The Unit analysts described how meetings with Motlanthe tend to be "unbearably hot" because the President "hates air-conditioning." They also said that Netshitenzhe -- in a scene reminiscent of the story of former President FW de Klerk relishing smoking his first cigarette in the presidency's office after the prudish PW Botha resigned -- has disabled the smoke detector in his office and "is never seen without a cigarette in his hand or on his lips." ¶8. (S//NF) Gumede, Mothabi, and Mlaba have worked for Netshitenzhe for many years. Gumede describes Mothabi and Mlaba as his "brain trust." Gumede, who is close to Mbeki, received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Natal in Durban. He was a senior economist from the Presidency from 2001 to 2003 before joining the Unit and worked in the Ministry of Trade and Industry from 2000 to 2001. He has extensive overseas experience, having done work at World Bank and the London School of Economics. In 2008, he was Cornell University's Africa Scholar. He was born in 1975, is married, and has two small children. Mothabi graduated from the University of Pretoria in the early 2000s and worked closely with professors Roland Henwood and Hussein Soloman. Mothabi, who is well connected to the academic community, led the Democratic Students Society on campus and served as a lecturer. He regularly updates the President's diary for the presidency.co.za website. He is single and lives in Sunnyside, Pretoria. Queeneth Mlaba was educated in Kwa-Zulu Natal and has worked in the government in various capacities for several years. She has focused on development sector reforms for the Unit since her arrival, but before that worked primarily on youth issues. She is seeking to return to academia next year by working with Witswatersrand University political philosopher Daryl Glaser. She is single and lives in Arcadia, Pretoria. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (S//NF) The fall of Mbeki, the rise of Zuma, and the split of the ANC that led to the creation of COPE has opened up access to government institutions that even a year ago would have been unthinkable. Meeting with members of Presidency's Policy Unit in a social setting would have been nearly impossible under Mbeki, but each of the events that unfolded during the past year created anxieties and challenges that have allowed greater access and insight into how South African Government decisions are discussed and implemented. Job security, pleasing new policymakers, and policy formation probably will remain challenges for the Unit, and the government, in coming years. In addition, the Unit's insights reveal a government that is itself in QUnit's insights reveal a government that is itself in transition, despite the fact it does not know where it is transitioning to. BOST