PART 2 OF 3: A LOOK AT JACOB ZUMA'S CABINET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 PRETORIA 001007

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM ASEC SF PGOV
SUBJECT: PART 2 OF 3: A LOOK AT JACOB ZUMA'S CABINET

REF: A. PRETORIA 000942

B. PRETORIA 000988

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Summary
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1. (SBU) President Jacob Zuma finalized his Cabinet
appointments on May 10, modifying several existing ministries
and creating a few new ones. Below are short biographies for
each of the newly appointed ministers and deputies. This is
the second of three cables looking at each of the Cabinet
appointees. End Summary.

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Cabinet Appointees
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2. (SBU) Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande is largely
seen as an opportunist from the South African Communist Party
(SACP) who had fallen out of favor during the President Thabo
Mbeki administration. He was a key figure in Zuma's rise as
African National Congress (ANC) leader at the ruling party's
congress in December 2007 because he saw the former Deputy
President as an ally who could propel him to power. Nzimande
also was a vocal critic of former President Kgalema
Motlanthe, whom he called "a member of the old crowd." He
serves as the General Secretary of the SACP, a position he
has held since 1998. He only joined the SACP in 1989,
however, years after he began his activist career. He also
serves on both the ANC's National Executive Committee and the
ANC's National Working Committee. Nzimande is steeped in the
Black Consciousness Movement, having started his university
career in 1976. He enrolled and graduated from the
University of Zululand in the late 1970s before joining the
Azanian People's Organization -- which eventually broke from
the Black Consciousness Movement. After finishing a Masters
degree in 1980, Nzimande moved to Durban where he met, and
became friends with, Jay Naidoo. His friendship with Naidoo
led him to become increasingly involved in trade union
politics. Nzimande began teaching at the University of Natal
in the mid-1980s and held clandestine Marxist study working
groups during his time as a lecturer. He was born in 1958.


3. (SBU) Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has
one of the toughest positions in the Cabinet because the Home
Affairs ministry is notoriously mismanaged and poorly run.
She is widely expected to clean up the department's
practices. Dlamini-Zuma served as Foreign Affairs minister
from 1999 to 2009. Prior to appointment as a senior
diplomat, Dlamini-Zuma served as Minister of Health from 1994
to 1999. She was asked to serve as Deputy President
following Mbeki's decision to fire Zuma in 2005, but she
declined after talking with her family. Ahead of the ruling
party's congress in 2007, it was rumored that she would be a
candidate for the presidency. However, she said publicly
that she "had not entered the succession debate in the ANC."
Viewed as a compromise candidate, Dlamini-Zuma was nominated
for the position of ANC Deputy President by four provinces
aligned to Mbeki and five provinces aligned to Zuma during
the ANC's congress in 2007. She serves as a member of the
ANC's National Executive Committee. Dlamini-Zuma became
active in the ANC in the 1970s, serving as an underground
member of the party and in the South African Students
Organization -- where she served as deputy president in 1976.
She fled into exile following the Soweto students' uprising
and completed a degree in medical studies from the University
Qand completed a degree in medical studies from the University
of Bristol. She was working as a doctor in Swaziland when
she met her future husband, Jacob Zuma. (Note: The couple
divorced in 1998). In 1985, she returned to the United
Kingdom and worked for the ANC Regional Health Committee.
She was born in 1949.


4. (U) Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has held
the position since 2004. He previously was elected ANC Youth
League President in 1996, 1998, and 2001. Gigaba served in
Parliament from 1999 to 2001 and rose through youth
organizations during the 1990s. He joined the SACP in 1990.
Loyal to the Zuma crowd in KwaZulu Natal, Gigaba has been
plagued by scandal since becoming Deputy Home Affairs
Minister. He has admitted to misappropriating public funds,
and once used public money to buy airline tickets from
participants in the Malusi Gigaba Leadership Institute. He

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also once charged the Department of Home Affairs for flowers
that he sent to his wife. Gigaba holds degrees in education
and social policy from the University of Durban-Westville.
He earned a medal from the Cuban Government for his activism
in youth issues in 2002. He was born in 1971 and is married.
He enjoys watching soccer, jogging, and working out.


5. (U) Human Settlement Minister Tokyo Sexwale is one of
South Africa's leading businessmen and previously served as
Gauteng premier from 1994 to 1998. Sexwale openly sought the
ANC's nomination as party leader ahead of the ANC's December
2007 party congress, but switched his support to Zuma when it
became apparent that the former Deputy President had the
votes to win. Rumored to be a frontrunner for the foreign
affairs ministry, Sexwale will instead steer the portfolio in
charge of housing. Sexwale has chaired, or held a stake in,
many of the country's leading firms, including: Arcus Gibb,
Rand Mutual Group of Companies, Trans Hex Group, MOCOH
Energy, Northam Platinum, and Mvelaphanda Holdings (which he
resigned from following his acceptance of the Human
Settlement ministry). He has served as a director of Altech,
De Montfort University, Desta Power Matla, Voltex, Gold
Field, and the 2010 World Cup Preparatory Committee. From
2001 to 2008, he served as a non-executive director of ABSA.
His community activities include working as a trustee for the
Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Global Philanthropists Circle,
the Robben Island Ex-Prisoners Trust, and the Business Trust.
A longtime ANC member, Sexwale served as an ex-officio
member of the party's executive committee from 1991 to 1997.
He chaired the ANC's military headquarters from 1990 to 1991
and worked on special projects for the party prior to the
1994 election. He was a member of the Black Consciousness
Movement beginning in the late 1960s and joined the ANC's
underground movement in the 1970s. He went into exile in the
Soviet Union and underwent military officer training in 1975.
In 1978, he was convicted and charged with terrorism and
conspiracy to overthrow the South African state. He spent 13
years in prison at Robben Island before his release. Sexwale
was born in 1953 and has two children. He enjoys reading and
watching sports.


6. (U) Deputy Human Settlement Minister Zoliswa Albertina
Kota-Fredericks, a member of Parliament since 1994, served as
longtime chair of the Housing Portfolio Committee. She has
been an ANC provincial executive committee member since 1992
and served as the ANC Women's League Provincial chair in
Western Cape beginning in 2003. There is not a substantial
amount of information available on Kota-Fredericks, but she
began her activism in the 1970s and was in exile at various
points in Lesotho, Angola, the Soviet Union, Cuba, and
Zimbabwe. She was the public secretary for the United
Democratic Front in 1983 before escaping the country. She
served in the ANC's diplomatic mission in Cuba from 1987 to
1991 before returning to chair the ANC's election activities
in Western Cape.


7. (SBU) International Relations Minister Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane was perhaps the biggest surprise of Zuma's
Cabinet selections as many did not anticipate the
appointment. According to local South African observers,
Qappointment. According to local South African observers,
including Iqbal Jhazbhay, Nkoana-Mashabane is "warmer than
Dlamini-Zuma" and would be nicer to work for. (Note: There
also are rumors that she is a "screamer" and difficult to
work for. Yolanda Kemp Spies said she was a horrible High
Commissioner, but still not as difficult as Dlamini-Zuma.
End Note.) Jhazbhay told Poloff that "she did not need to be
a great leader because she will continue the same policies."
She reportedly gets along well with one of her deputies,
Ebrahim Ebrahim. She traveled with Zuma last year to China
and India. Nkoana-Mashabane, a former activist in the United
Democratic Front, served as South African High Commissioner
to India and Malaysia before serving in Parliament on foreign
affairs. She served in India from 1999 to 2005 and in
Malaysia from 1995 to 1999. Jhazbhay said that Zuma wants to
improve relations with Angola (one of his first trips as ANC
President was to Angola, and Nkoana-Mashabane made Luanda her
first international visit) and he views Nkoana-Mashabane as
an effective broker with Luanda. Jhazbhay noted that on
Zimbabwe, he sees Zuma and Nkoana-Mashabane playing "good
cop, bad cop," with the South African foreign ministry and
government being the "good cop" and COSATU and SACP being the
"bad cop." Nkoana-Mashabane's husband, who died in a 2007
car accident, was investigated -- and cleared -- on sexual

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harassment charges stemming from his time as South African
High Commissioner in Indonesia. He was found guilty by a DFA
departmental disciplinary committee on 21 counts of sexual
harassment but Dlamini-Zuma cleared him because she believed
his story that he was being framed. At least one of the
victims pressed charges and they settled the case out of
court. After her tours of duty in India and Malaysia,
Nkoana-Mashabane served as Member in the Executive Council
for housing and local government in Limpopo and was
influential in drawing support to Zuma in her capacity as
Deputy Secretary General of the ANC in Limpopo.


8. (SBU) Deputy International Relations Minister Ebrahim
Ebrahim was long rumored to be positioned as South Africa's
Foreign Minister, but will serve under Nkoana-Mashabane
instead. According to Zuma adviser Mo Shaik, Ebrahim had two
things against him - his age and an overly ambitious wife.
Ebrahim is quiet in person and small in stature. He joined
the liberation movement in 1952 and participated in the
Congress of the People campaign, which adopted the Freedom
Charter in 1955. He was active in all major campaigns
against the apartheid during the 1950s. After the ANC was
banned, he joined the armed wing of the ANC -- Umkhonto we
Sizwe ("MK"). In 1961, he was arrested and charged under the
Sabotage Act with 18 others in the Pietermaritzburg sabotage
trial. He was sentenced to 15 years at Robben Island.
Following his release in 1979, he was banned and his
movements restricted. He went into exile in 1980 and
operated on the frontlines for the MK in Swaziland and
Zimbabwe. In 1986, he was kidnapped from Swaziland by the
South African security forces and charged with high treason.
He was sentenced to another 20 years on Robben Island. In
1991, he was released from jail and then elected to the ANC's
National Executive Committee. He became a member of
Parliament in 1994 and chaired Parliament's Foreign Affairs
Committee. He resigned, however, in 2002 to become a
political adviser. Following Zuma's win as ANC President in
2007, Ebrahim worked in Luthuli House on international
relations. He was born in 1937 in Durban and holds a degree
from the University of South Africa.


9. (SBU) Deputy International Relations Minister Sue van der
Merwe has served in this capacity since 2004. She joined
Parliament as an ANC member in 1996, and held positions on a
number of committees. Her portfolios included Finance,
Communication, Environment and Tourism, and the Joint
Standing Committee on Intelligence. She served as the ANC's
Whip from 1999 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2004, she served as
Parliamentary Councilor to the President of South Africa.
She began her political career as coordinator for the Black
Sash Advice Office in Cape Town in 1988. She was born in
1954 and enjoys running.


10. (SBU) Justice and Constitutional Development Minister
Jeff Radebe is one of Zuma's staunchest supporters and
drafted a highly inflammatory letter to former ANC
Chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota after Lekota criticized the ANC's
political direction last year. His move from the Transport
ministry to the Justice and Constitutional Development
ministry is a sign that Radebe may be seeking to position
himself to follow Zuma as ANC leader. (Note: The Transport
Qhimself to follow Zuma as ANC leader. (Note: The Transport
ministry is increasingly coming under fire from taxi drivers
and businessmen who are angry that the government is seeking
to implement a rapid bus transport system. Away from the
fire, Radebe may come under less public criticism. End
Note.) Moreover, a spot in the Justice and Constitutional
Development ministry guarantees that Radebe will be lauded by
political observers if the ANC opts to leave the Constitution
unchanged (which the party has promised to do, but many in
the opposition used the contrary as a campaign theme) and the
courts free of political cronies. Radebe has been a member
of the ANC's National Executive Committee and a member of the
ANC's National Working Committee since 1991. He also retains
his membership on the SACP's Central Committee and chairs the
ANC's policy unit. Along with Sexwale, Radebe has been a
board member for the 2010 World Cup Preparatory Committee --
a capacity in which he lobbied strongly for the rapid bus
transport system. He began his political career as a student
activist during his days at the University of Zululand in the
late 1970s. He joined the underground movement of the ANC in
1976 and left for Mozambique in 1977 for training as an MK
member. He was a radio journalist in Dar es Salaam for two
years and worked in the ANC International Department in

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Zambia. He spent years creating underground ANC and SACP
structures in South Africa and Lesotho as an MK member; he
was arrested in Johannesburg in 1986 for these activities and
served 5 years at Robben Island. Upon his release, Radebe
served politically in SACP's leadership core and as chair of
the ANC's southern Natal regional branches. During his time
in these positions, he helped propel Zuma to the premiership
of KwaZulu Natal. Radebe was born in 1953 and is married.


11. (U) Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy
Minister Andries Nel has quietly climbed the ranks of the ANC
since he joined Parliament in 1994. There is little
information available on Nel's political career or life as he
is noted as "shy and reserved," but he first gained
prominence in the early 2000s as a Deputy Chief Whip of the
ANC in Parliament and then as acting Chief Whip of the party,
a position he first held in 2007. He is longtime member of
the ANC's regional executive committee of Tshwane. Nel's
father was a loyal servant under the Nationalist Government
during apartheid. Nel studied at the University of Pretoria
and earned a law degree before becoming a human rights
lawyer. He married an American in 2005 and the wedding was
featured in the New York Times.


12. (SBU) Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has held this
position since 1998 and has been well-documented. He has
been a member of Parliament since 1994 and a member of the
ANC's National Executive Committee since 1998. In
Parliament, he was a member of the Portfolio Committee on
Education from 1994 to 1996 and the Home Affairs Committee
from 1994 to 1996. He was a whip of the Parliamentary
Programming Committee from 1995 to 1998. In the 1980s, he
became involved in the labor movement. He served as chair of
the Democratic Teachers Union, which stemmed from his
experience as a high school principal in Cape Town. From
1990 to 1994, he served as National President of the
Democratic Teachers Union. From 1994 to 1998, he served as
National President of the South African Democratic Teachers
Union, which propelled him to his position as Labour
Minister. He earned a Bachelors degree from the University
of South Africa in 1997. He was born in 1952 in Eastern
Cape.


13. (SBU) Mining Minister Susan Shabangu served as Deputy
Minister of Mining and Energy from 1996 to 2004. More
recently, she served as Deputy Minister for Safety and
Security, where she came to prominence one year ago when she
urged police to shoot criminals to curb the nation's high
incidence of crime. Shabangu has a strong union and ANC
background and is a member of the ANC National Executive
Committee. (Note: See Septel for more information on how
the mining community sees Shabangu. End Note.)


14. (U) Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa previously served as
the Chief Whip of the ANC. One of former President Thabo
Mbeki's staunchest critics, he has been in Parliament since
2002 and is currently a member of the NEC and the ANC's
National Working Committee. Prior to Polokwane he was a key
lobbyist for Jacob Zuma's bid to become party leader; he was
accused of being one of the leaders responsible for
organizing party members bused in to boo former Mbeki. He
was elected to the NEC of the ANC's Youth League in 1994 and
Qwas elected to the NEC of the ANC's Youth League in 1994 and
served in its National Working Committee as Secretary for
Organization from 1994 to 2004. He was deployed to the ANC's
National Organizing team in 2001 and served as chairman of
the Minerals and Energy Portfolio Committee in 2004. He has
ties to the labor movement, having served in 1989 as chairman
of the Southern Natal Unemployed Workers Union, an initiative
of COSATU. Mthethwa was recruited into underground work for
the ANC as part of Operation Vula. He has extensive ties to
the ANC in KwaZulu Natal, which he has capitalized on as
chairman of the ANC's Political Committee in KwaZulu Natal.
He has in the past denied meeting requests from the Consul
General in Durban. He is known for his tough talk and
militancy. He was born on January 23, 1967 and is married.
He enjoys writing and sports.


15. (SBU) Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula's
appointment is not without controversy. As one pundit
quipped, "Mbalula's only past experiences with policing
probably are not good ones." He headed the ANC's 2009
election campaign and is a longtime ANC Youth League leader.
He first served politically as leader of the Botshabelo Youth

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Congress from 1986 to 1987. He became an area member of the
United Democratic Front in 1989 and secretary of the ANC
Provisional Youth Committee in 1990. He served as a regional
secretary of the ANC Youth League from 1991 to 1994, as a
provincial secretary in the Free State from 1994 to 1996, as
chair of political education from 1996 to 1998, and as
secretary general from 1998 to 2004. From 2004 to 2008, he
was President of the ANC Youth League and lead the
organization during its controversial dealings with Brett
Kebble. The Lembede Investment Holdings firm -- the league's
financial arm -- has been controversial since at least 2000
because of how quickly it grew and because it received a
significant capital injection from the late mining baron
Kebble. The firm reportedly holds more than 12 million
dollars. Last year, current ANC Youth League President
Julius Malema began angling for greater control of the firm
in the name of "pushing away old comrades who became
millionaires in the name of youth." Mbalula is an affiliate
member of Socialist International and has been trained in
psychotherapy. He was born in 1971.

End Part Two
LA LIME