SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT ZUMA'S VISIT LAUNCHES NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUANDA 000523


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2019
TAGS: AO PREL ZA
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT ZUMA'S VISIT LAUNCHES NEW
ERA IN RELATIONS WITH ANGOLA

Classified By: DAN MOZENA FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) In his maiden foreign diplomatic foray since assuming
office, South African President Jacob Zuma visited Angola
August 19 -21. Both the Director of African Affairs of the
Angolan Ministry of External Relations and South Africa's
resident ambassador in Luanda told the Ambassador the visit
was a "grand success." Replete with symbolism (laying of
wreaths to commemorate Angola's first president and its
unknown soldier, plus a visit to the site of an ANC refugee
camp during the anti-apartheid struggle),the visit saturated
the local media. The visit also had a heavy substantive
agenda, both in the diplomatic and economic arenas. Zuma's
entourage included a dozen ministers and over 150 businessmen.


2. (C) On the diplomatic front, Zuma's visit marks a turning
point in the heretofore frosty relations between southern
Africa's two heavy-weights. Using almost identical words,
the two presidents separately termed the visit the launch of
a new era of cooperation, committing to build a strategic
partnership through continued high-level engagement. They
pledged to create "a common voice against the grave
challenges of humanity," including environmental degradation,
terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and
political and religious fundamentalism. As Zuma told a
session of the National Assembly, "Angola is an important
player in southern Africa ... South Africa and Angola need to
have common positions and actions to benefit the region."
According to MIREX's African Affairs Director, the two heads
of state discussed a range of regional issues, including
Zimbabwe, DRC, Madagascar, Sudan and Somalia; on Zimbabwe, he
said, the leaders agreed that SADC would need to intervene
more to push implementation of the Global Political Agreement
and to provide support to the nation's economic recovery. On
Madagascar, the presidents agreed to support ongoing
reconciliation efforts of former Mozambique president
Chissano. The South African Ambassador said that on the
notion of a United States of Africa, the leaders agreed the
best approach is to focus now on strengthening regional
organizations.


3. (C) In the economic realm, the Angola-South Africa
Business Forum was the centerpiece. Headed by Economic
Minister Manuel Nunes Junior, the Angolans made a strong
pitch for increased trade and investment between the two
countries. Declaring that Angola is open to "know-how,
innovation, science and modernization," Junior urged the
South Africans to explore opportunities in energy, water,
oil/gas, agriculture, fisheries, mining, transport and higher
education. In his response, South African Commerce Minister
Rob Davis replied that he is optimistic that a new era of
cooperation has begun with Angola, stressing that it is
important to promote initiatives between businesses of the
two countries. A skeptical South African Ambassador told
Ambassador that the proof of the pudding is the tasting, and
it remains to be seen what deals emerge from the Business
Forum.


4. (C) Comment: Personal animosity between President Dos
Santos and former South African President Mbeki had kept
Angola-South Africa relations in the deep freeze for quite a
while. Zuma's singling out Angola as the destination for his
first official foreign visit was well noted and duly
appreciated by his Angolan hosts. Angola does offer South
Africa a potentially lucrative partner for greatly expanded
trade and investment. The biggest obstacle may well prove to
be a clash of pride between the two nations, with Angola
harboring notions of some day playing a much bigger role
diplomatically and economically in the region, an expanded
role that could clash with rather than complement South
Africa's own preeminence.


MOZENA