AN INTIMATE VIEW INTO THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY UNIT

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 002649

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2018
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SUBJECT: AN INTIMATE VIEW INTO THE PRESIDENT'S POLICY UNIT

REF: PRETORIA 2544

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Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR MADELINE Q. SEIDENSTRICKER FO
R REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).

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Summary
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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.

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Inside the Policy Unit
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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."

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Challenges Facing the Policy Unit
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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

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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.

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Ancedotes and Bios
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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

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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.

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Comment
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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