AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH SADC DIRECTOR FOR PEACE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GABORONE 000457

SIPDIS

FOR AF/S, AF/RSA, PM/RSAT, PM/PPA, L/PM
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2019
TAGS: PREL MASS EAID KPKO SADC BC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH SADC DIRECTOR FOR PEACE
AND SECURITY

REF: A. STATE 57332

B. GABORONE 209

C. STATE 18852

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen J. Nolan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: As part of post's ongoing efforts to increase
engagement with SADC, Ambassador met with Lt. Gen. (rtd.)
Tanki Mothae, the Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence,
and Security, at the SADC headquarters in Gaborone on June 8,

2009. The Ambassador reiterated our request that U.S.
military observers be allowed to take part in the upcoming
SADC military exercise "Golfhino" to be held in South Africa
in September. He also explained to Mothae that the USG is
interested in deepening its ties with SADC, including on
peace and security matters. The Ambassador briefed Mothae
about ways in which the USG is already engaging with most
SADC members states on both civilian and military security
matters, including ILEA and ACOTA. Mothae was gracious and
open during the 90-minute meeting, and he pledged to improve
communication between Embassy Gaborone and the SADC
Secretariat. Though he will need to get back to us with
detailed answers on the questions regarding implementation of
the Presidential Directive on U.S. Security Cooperation with
SADC, Mothae did agree verbally that U.S. observers would be
welcome at the Golfhino exercise. END SUMMARY.


Background
--------------

2. (C) Ambassador Nolan sent a letter to Southern African
Development Committee (SADC) Executive Secretary June 5
regarding U.S.- SADC military cooperation, and followed up
the same day with a phone call to Salomao. During their
telephone conversation, the Ambassador reminded Salomao that
the USG has been trying to follow up with SADC regarding
information needed to start the process of implementing the
January 2009 Presidential Determination (PD),but that staff
from the Organ on Defence, Politics, and Security have been
unresponsive to our inquiries. Dr. Salomao promised to raise
the issue immediately with Lieutenant General (retired) Tanki
Mothae, the Organ's Director. Apparently Salomao's
instruction to Mothae worked, because Mothae phoned the
Ambassador around close of business Friday June 5 and set up
a meeting with the Ambassador and Pol/Econ Chief for Monday
June 8.


(C) Organ Director: Open but Overwhelmed?
--------------

3. (C) Ambassador and Pol/Econ Chief met with Lt. Gen. Mothae
in his office at the SADC headquarters for approximately 90
minutes on June 8. Mothae scrambled to find a staff member
to sit in on the meeting, and Ms. Linda Ramokate, the
Politics and Diplomacy Officer, joined the meeting a few
minutes late. Mothae has been in his position since December

2006. He informed us that he is a retired officer of the
Lesotho Defence Force and that he has been to the United
States twice for military training (Fort Meade for Public
Affairs training and Fort Bragg for Psy Ops and Civil Affairs
training, years unspecified). He apologized for the
difficulty in contacting him sooner, but explained that his
staff is quite small (he would never specify how many) and
their responsibilities are quite broad. He also noted that
he travels frequently, previously often to Harare and more
recently to Madagascar due to the crisis. He also spends
time in Swaziland, the current Chair of the Organ Troika.
According to Mothae, his section of SADC is responsible for
four main sectors: politics and diplomacy; defense; state
security; and public security (which includes diverse areas
like customs, corrections, wildlife, and refugees). He also
said that his section will soon be responsible for police
issues within SADC.


4. (C) The Ambassador opened the meeting by briefing Mothae
on the USG request to send military observers to the upcoming
Golfhino exercise and our desire for deeper peace and
security cooperation with SADC. He gave Lt. Gen. Mothae
several copies of the Presidential Determination as well as
the questions that we would like SADC to answer to begin the
process of a Section 505 agreement needed to implement the PD
(ref A and previous). Mothae thanked the Ambassador for his

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visit and said he had wanted to be in touch with the U.S.
Embassy on peace and security matters "for a long time." He
explained that some of his major challenges at present are
working on a common SADC visa (akin to the Schengen visa for
EU countries),launching the SADC Brigade as part of the
African Union's Stand-by Force, elections this year in a
number of member states, working on a SADC "Early Warning
System" information network, ongoing unrest in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, and of course the crises in Zimbabwe and
more recently Madagascar. The Ambassador briefed Mothae
about the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in
Botswana, and noted that SADC should get to know the facility
and its programs as most member states are taking part. He
also told Mothae about the U.S. ACOTA program and the role
that ACOTA has played in peacekeeping training for various
African militaries. Mothae was eager to visit ILEA in future
and interested in the ACOTA concept.


Madagascar
--------------

5. (C) Lt. Gen. Mothae was quite concerned about Madagascar's
future. He said that although SADC suspended the nation
after its coup, that the regional body must ensure that
Madagascar is restored to membership soon, under proper
governance. The Ambassador praised SADC's firm stance
against the coup in Madagascar and noted that the USG is in
contact with the UN, AU, and of course SADC to try to help
resolve the political crisis. He explained that the U.S.
supports early elections for the island, perhaps by the end
of 2009. Mothae agreed that new elections would be key, and
he said that he had no faith that the HAT could oversee new
elections or a democratic transition. He told us that a
representative from his staff at the secretariat is in
Madagascar "all the time" (though the staff members rotate in
this duty) and that there are also SADC representatives in
Antananarivo from each of the SADC troika member states
(usually from their Foreign Affairs or Defense ministries).
According to Mothae, the SADC Representative in Madagascar
returned from the island last week and has briefed the SADC
Chairman as well as the Organ Troika members and the
Secretariat staff. Mothae explained that he has not yet had
a chance to discuss the latest news with Executive Secretary
Salomao or to decide on a way ahead for SADC before a summit
is called. The real issue, Mothae said, is how to encourage
early elections. He explained that Madagascar in his view
"has no real electoral law" and desperately needs security
sector reform.


The Way Ahead
--------------

6. (C) At the close of the meeting, Lt. Gen. Mothae told the
Ambassador that he has approved our request to send U.S.
military observers to the Golfhino exercise. (Note: We hope
to soon recieve a formal written reply agreeing to our
written request to send observers to Golfhino. End note.)
He also promised to meet with us again "soon" to discuss what
kind of security assistance SADC might need and talk about
the questions we need answered before moving forward with
greater defense cooperation. However, Mothae also noted that
he will be in Swaziland from June 19 to the end of the month,
and then at the African Union in early July, and wrapped up
with organizing the annual SADC summit in August. He
stressed however that he believes SADC needs urgent support
on democracy and good governance, including training election
observers and a civilian component for its upcoming exercise
and broader Stand-by Force mandate, and finally he hoped to
work with SADC's "International Cooperating Partners" to
establish SADC expertise on mediation and conflict
prevention.


A Small Step Forward...
--------------

7. (C) COMMENT: Embassy Officers have been pursuing a meeting
with Mothae or one of his subordinates for at least 4 months,
but our letters, calls and emails went unanswered. This
90-minute meeting with Mothae, though not groundbreaking in
content, represents a step forward in establishing a more
regular and productive dialogue with the SADC secretariat,
particularly on vital peace and security matters. We are

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hopeful that the right office at SADC has finally gotten the
full message about our Presidential Determination and the
information needed by the Department to proceed with it.
However, the ball remains in SADC's court to provide written
responses to the questions as outlined in Ref A. SADC's
Directorate for Politics, Defense, and Security is clearly
small and overwhelmed by dealing with regional political
crises and organizing meetings on a whole host of security
topics, ranging from customs, to peacekeeping, to human
trafficking. Despite their open attitudes during our
meeting, they may be stretched too thin to provide the level
of information we want in timely fashion. Post will continue
to follow up and try to keep the issue of defense cooperation
with the USG high on their radar screens. END COMMENT.
NOLAN