ANC GOES FAR, PERHAPS TOO FAR, IN ASSISTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 002266 SIPDIS STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SF SUBJECT: ANC GOES FAR, PERHAPS TOO FAR, IN ASSISTING MOZAMBIQUE'S VOTING PRETORIA 00002266 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Counselor Walter N.S. Pflaumer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). - - - - Summary - - - - ¶1. (SBU) The African National Congress (ANC) made special arrangements for Mozambican citizens living in the South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces to vote in Mozambique's elections on October 28. ANC members -- unaffiliated with South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and without assistance from the ANC's headquarters -- assisted in setting up five voting stations in Giyani, Phalaborwa, Musina, Nelspruit (Mbombela) and Lydernburg. In Giyani, roughly 7,000 Mozambicans voted in a nearby school Thanda Bantu Primary School. The ANC's effort to allow Mozambicans to vote demonstrates the party's commitment to liberation parties in the region -- even if such engagement runs counter to some of South Africa's own democratic principles. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A Trip to "Little Mozambique" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) Poloff visited Giyani, north of Limpopo, on October 28-29. More than 10,000 Mozambicans have settled in this area near Kruger National Park, which is known to locals as "little Mozambique." According to the Greater Giyani Municipal Manger David Mabunda, the area was once a squatter camp established in 1995 by Mozambicans coming into Limpopo through Kruger National Park. He said the area initially had less than 1,000 families but has grown over the years. The Greater Giyani municipality does not know how many Mozambicans occupy the area now -- 10,000 is the estimate -- as the municipality lost count in 2002, but he believes the special election facilitated by the ANC will help determine numbers of people in the area. Mabunda told Poloff that Mozambicans are "more than welcome" in the area and they receive basic municipal services such as water and electricity as a sign of "brotherhood." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ANC Lends a Hand in Elections Run-Up . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (SBU) The ANC's provincial officials spent five days preparing for Mozambique's elections on October 28, according to ANC Provincial Secretary Joe Maswanganyi. (Note: Mozambicans were legally allowed to vote in the elections in both South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to multiple press reports. End Note.) The ANC Youth League in Limpopo organized and led the Liberation Front for Mozambique's (FRELIMO) election campaign in the area. Maswanganyi told Poloff the Youth League "worked hard to ensure a successful campaign for FRELIMO" in South Africa. The Youth League went so far as to print and distribute FRELIMO t-shirts. He told Poloff that ANC members conducted door-to-door campaigns throughout the week, and Home Affairs assisted in issuing identity documents to Mozambican voters so they could vote. Maswanganyi related to Poloff that FRELIMO's campaign in South Africa was successful and they expected all Block-D residents to vote for Mozambican President Armando Guebuza. When asked why the ANC would play such an instrumental role in neighboring Mozambique's elections, Maswanganyi said "FRELIMO is our brother party and they needed our help to stay in power." Qstay in power." - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . And on Voting Day - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (SBU) The ANC's provincial officials also ensured that voting ran smoothly in Giyani on the day of the vote. According to ANC facilitators, more than 7,000 people voted. Poloff witnessed few problems at the polling station in Giyani, the biggest challenge being the late arrival of ballot papers. Ballot papers only reached Giyani at midday, which led to extended voting hours until midnight. 11,000 ballot papers were delivered to the area from Mpumalanga. (Note: Poloffs in Maputo said the consensus there is that PRETORIA 00002266 002.2 OF 002 polling stations outside of Mozambique probably were not observed by the international community. End Note.) Some of the voters Poloff spoke to said they were excited to have an opportunity to vote for Guebuza and FRELIMO. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Luthuli House, IEC Had Limited Knowledge of ANC Efforts - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (C) The effort led by provincial officials and the ANC Youth League seems to have come without extensive input from either the ANC's headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg or the country's independent and widely respected IEC. Poloff spoke with a contact in the international affairs section at Luthuli House on November 2, who said the ANC "knew Mozambican elections were taking place but had no details about the process." The ANC contact said Luthuli House was aware that the ANC provincial members were helping FRELIMO. The contact said that in April a team came over from Mozambique to begin voter education and the ANC assumed that the team would run the polls. Poloffs, however, saw ANC local officials primarily in charge of the polls on election day. Poloffs made several telephone calls to IEC officials in Limpopo and at the national office on November 2 about whether the Commission had officials working as observers or facilitators. IEC office managers in Giyani and Phalaborwa both said they had no knowledge of the vote and "were not involved" in the planning process or on elections day. - - - - Comment - - - - ¶6. (C) The ANC's effort to facilitate voting for Mozambicans underscores the strength of the ruling party's ties to parties based on liberation movements in the region. President Jacob Zuma and the ANC renamed the Foreign Affairs ministry the Department for International Relations and Cooperation in part to highlight the party's friendship with groups such as FRELIMO and Namibia's Southwest Africa People's Organization. It is nonetheless disturbing to see a political party which prides itself on its own internal democratic structures, and which has sought to adhere scrupulously to democratic electoral practices in South African elections, acting in such an undemocratic fashion and in support of such an undemocratic political party as FRELIMO. Having the ANC both campaign for FRELIMO, then assume the role of electoral presiding officer, is an obviously undemocratic practice which harms both the ANC's reputation and its own internal democratic culture. It may be beneficial now to South Africa's relations with a FRELIMO-run Mozambique, but there could certainly be consequences down the road. End comment. GIPS