FREEDOM FRONT PLUS YOUTH LEADER BARELY HANGING ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 001103

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM ASEC SF PGOV
SUBJECT: FREEDOM FRONT PLUS YOUTH LEADER BARELY HANGING ON
TO POSITION

REF: PRETORIA 000666

PRETORIA 00001103 001.2 OF 002


--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Freedom Front Plus Youth League leader Cornelius
van Rensburg offered his version of why he was suspended
after criticizing party leader Pieter Mulder's decision to
join President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet on May 10. Van Rensburg
sees little hope for resuming his position -- he has retained
a lawyer -- but his comments demonstrate why he is more than
the ill-disciplined firebrand portrayed in the media. End
Summary.

--------------
Speaking Out Has its Costs
--------------


2. (SBU) FFP Youth League leader van Rensburg met with
Poloffs on May 29 to discuss his future in the party. Van
Rensburg last month was suspended by party leadership for
speaking out publicly against FFP President Mulder's decision
to join Zuma's Cabinet. (Note: Mulder opted to serve as the
Deputy Agricultural Minister in Zuma's Cabinet. Before the
April 22 election, Post reported that the Freedom Front was
considering a strategic alliance with the African National
Congress. See Reftel for more information. End Note). Van
Rensburg firmly reiterated his claim that Mulder did not
discuss with the party's National Executive Committee (NEC)
his plan to join the government before announcing his
decision. Van Rensburg said, "I have been on the (party's)
NEC since I was elected as a Tshwane city councilor in 2006.
There was never a meeting to discuss his (Mulder's) decision
or a telephone conversation. There was nothing." He noted
that Mulder's decision was based on his desire to secure a
pension, not based on what is best for the FFP politically.
Van Rensburg claimed, "Zuma's people had been courting him
for months and he caved to better his financial situation."


3. (SBU) Van Rensburg, who has been described as the
"Afrikaner Julius Malema" for his willingness to speak out
without consulting party leadership, said it is sad that "in
African politics one cannot speak without first consulting
with the tribal chief." He noted that Mulder went to the
National Executive Committee on May 23 to ensure that the
party's earlier decision (taken on May 11) to censure him
would be upheld. The FFP's NEC subsequently upheld the
decision, and he described his chances as "slim" for resuming
as the party's youth leader. He stated, "I have organized
legal representation so I can protect my political position
and my reputation ... It is the best I can do."

--------------
A Glimpse Inside An Afrikaner Political Party
--------------


4. (SBU) On the margins of his comments on his recent
struggles, van Rensburg offered a rare glimpse into life
inside the Afrikaner community's largest political body. The
FFP met once a week during the election campaign to discuss
strategies and plans for winning new voters and ensuring
voter turnout for the party's registered voters. He said
that now that the election is over, the FFP is meeting once
every few weeks to discuss plans for the local election in

2011. Although his suspension has kept him from attending
those meetings, van Rensburg said there are real divisions
being worked out internally about where the FFP needs to go
to ensure positive results in the municipal poll. He said,
Qto ensure positive results in the municipal poll. He said,
"There are those in the party who want to see us beholden to
our farming roots and those in the party, including myself,
who recognize that we need metro representation to survive
21st century South African politics." In many ways, he
thinks his suspension is a part of this tension.


5. (SBU) He also thinks that his remarks have given an
opening to those seeking to settle old scores. He claimed,
"The party members going after me the hardest right now are
those guys associated with the University of the Free State."
According to him, "those guys" are youth leaders who played
a role in the aftermath of a 2007 incident at the University
of the Free State where white students videotaped demeaning

PRETORIA 00001103 002.2 OF 002


acts conducted against black university employees. The
videotape was viewed across the world online. He said, "As
the youth leader then, I came down hard on the university
branch of our party for not acting quickly enough to denounce
the situation there. I criticized their statements and
actions following the incident and they now see my censure as
a way to get payback." He warned that should the youth
leaders from the University of the Free State get the upper
hand following his cenure and assume greater representation
in the party, the FFP will be finished. He said, "We should
be focused on winning support in Cape Town, Pretoria, and
greater Gauteng, not worried about what some right-wing young
people think in Bloemfontein."


6. (SBU) He stated that it is ironic that Mulder's decision
to accept a Cabinet position is "good in the sense that he
cannot be both the FFP's parliamentary leader and a minister
at the same time." With Mulder probably spending more time
in Pretoria than in Cape Town, van Rensburg sees junior
parliamentary member William Spies assuming a greater role in
the party. Van Rensburg said, "Nothing could be better
because Spies is a new face and can help us grow." According
to van Rensburg, the FFP will always be popular on university
campuses -- now more than ever that Blade Nzimande is
Minister for Higher Education -- but needs to target the
young and newly employed to stay relevant.

--------------
Comment
--------------


7. (SBU) Although it appears increasingly unlikely that van
Rensburg will return as the FFP's youth leader, his private
comments show that he is more than another Malema. He has
serious ideas about why Mulder's decision to accept a Cabinet
position was not in the best interest of the party and about
where the party needs to go to remain a viable voice for the
Afrikaner in the 21st century. The old apartheid era
National Party leadership collectively joined the African
National Congress years ago, leaving the FFP as the sole
independent voice of the Afrikaner community. Zuma,s
outreach to that community -- including Mulder,s appointment
-- has apparently paid dividends for the ANC and also opened
debate regarding the future of that white community during
the next phase of the ANC,s transformation policies. Such
ideas will need further debate within the party and,
ultimately, implementation beyond Mulder to help the party at
the municipal level in 2011.
LA LIME