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Viewing cable 09DURBAN9, STEEP CHALLENGES AHEAD WEIGH ON NEWLY ANNOUNCED COPE LEADER

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09DURBAN9 2009-01-16 15:51 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Durban
VZCZCXRO9080
RR RUEHBZ RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDU #0009/01 0161551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161551Z JAN 09
FM AMCONSUL DURBAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1385
INFO RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0758
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DURBAN 000009 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SF
SUBJECT: STEEP CHALLENGES AHEAD WEIGH ON NEWLY ANNOUNCED COPE LEADER 
IN KZN 
 
DURBAN 00000009  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary. Congress of the People (COPE) political leader 
Lucky Gabela discussed why he left the African National Congress 
(ANC) and his new party's campaign strategy and prospects during 
a meeting with the Consul General, visiting Pretoria Poloff, and 
Pol-Econ Assistant on January 15.  Gabela, who was once a senior 
member of the ANC in KwaZulu Natal, announced his defection to 
COPE publicly on January 10, but worked secretly for the new 
party before then.  He acknowledged the party must work hard to 
gain a foothold in the province, but expressed confidence COPE 
would meet its electoral goals and remain a political player 
after the election.  End Summary. 
 
Gabela On Why He Left 
 
2. (SBU)  Former special adviser to the KwaZulu Natal Premier's 
Office Lucky Gabela discussed why he defected from the African 
National Congress to COPE in a January 15 meeting with the 
Consul General, visiting Pretoria Poloff, and Pol-Econ 
Assistant.  He said that "leaving the ANC was a long time 
coming."  Acknowledging he has been working for COPE 
"underground" for several months, he related that ANC members 
are leaving the party because "they must find a way to find a 
way to stop the monsters."  (Note:  Gabela's  reference to 
"monsters" probably relates to those in the Jacob Zuma camp who 
during the past year aggressively pushed the "non-purge purge" 
within the party following former President Thabo Mbeki's defeat 
at Polokwane that saw his supporters sidelined.  End Note.)  He 
expressed frustration with how young people in the ANC are 
speaking out of turn within the ANC and added that he saw no 
leadership within the ANC right now.  Gabela lamented that he 
and other Mbeki supporters "miscalculated" at Polokwane. 
According to him, "The manipulation of the corruption case 
against Zuma allowed Zuma's allies to defeat Mbeki [at the party 
congress]." 
 
Gabela on COPE and Its Future 
 
3. (SBU)  Gabela provided insight into how COPE is developing in 
the province, and his remarks show how hard it is has been for 
the new party to gain a foothold.  He said the current focus for 
the new party is building local and provincial branch offices. 
COPE is building branches by distributing pamphlets with contact 
numbers for members in a district, using the media to spread 
their message, and attracting significant numbers of potential 
voters for rallies in key areas.  Despite Gabela's mention of 
COPE's use of media, the former special adviser to the Premier's 
Office seemed not to appreciate the high level of media 
attention COPE is drawing across the country.  He admitted that 
because of the short amount of time before the election and the 
limited resources available to the party, COPE is focused on 
towns and cities rather than villages and rural areas.  Gabela 
said that despite high level comments by ANC leadership in the 
province against political violence, the ANC is not showing 
political tolerance for COPE rallies and meetings.  He noted 
that police presence at recent provincial rallies has helped, 
but not enough for some community activists to avoid getting 
hurt.  One way COPE intends to counter the intimidation that its 
members face is to go into "no-go areas" -- ANC strongholds -- 
with heavy security.  Once in the area, COPE plans to get in and 
out quickly before ANC cadres can mobilize and react. 
 
4. (SBU)  Gabela said COPE's goal for the election is 10 percent 
in the province and 40 percent nationally.  He said COPE will 
try to capitalize on the numerous reasons that people are 
leaving the ANC to join COPE.  Many are leaving first because of 
how the ANC unfairly recalled Mbeki without input from the 
public, and secondly, due to the ANC's decision to aggressively 
dismantle the Scorpions law enforcement unit.  Third, some are 
defecting because they want to make political leaders more 
accountable.  Fourth, many feel strongly that affirmative action 
should not be applied along racial lines.  Fifth, the party is 
using is former knowledge of ANC operations to capitalize on 
poor performance of local councilors and related 
dissatisfaction. When the Consul General asked if COPE is 
attracting supporters from across racial and cultural lines, 
Gabela affirmed that the new party is crossing all the divides 
it can.  He said even white South Africans who have avoided 
politics since 1994 are joining. 
 
5. (SBU)  Gabela predicted that a number of other ANC leaders in 
the province would be joining COPE soon, but did not offer 
names.  He said part of the party's strategy right now is 
keeping supporters in the ANC as long as possible to find out 
information and to help disrupt plans.  However, he said that at 
a certain point "we will not allow more to come."  According to 
Gabela's view, "COPE cannot be open forever."  He said that it 
 
DURBAN 00000009  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
is better for members to join now rather than after the ANC's 
parliamentary officers' list process ends, and COPE has to 
"accept losers."  He quipped, "We don't want only rejected ANC 
members joining the party."  Gabela insisted that those who left 
the ANC will "never go back to the party and will remain in COPE 
after the election." 
 
Comment 
 
6. (SBU)  Thoughtful commentary by a political leader such as 
Lucky Gabela is helpful in gaining a sense of COPE's perception 
of its strengths and weaknesses in KwaZulu Natal ahead of the 
election.  The party has a lot of work to do before it can 
seriously contend for political control of the province.  COPE 
will need to streamline its message, consolidate its membership, 
and counter some serious political antagonism from the ANC for 
the party to be successful here.  Gabela may also need to grow 
savvier in his use of the media buzz surrounding COPE. 
Moreover, perhaps most importantly, for COPE to be successful 
the party will need to avoid appearing like "a group of the 
disgruntled" to voters in a province where there are several 
other political choices.  Gabela appears to be cognizant of how 
hard COPE must work -- with limited time and resources -- in 
coming months. 
DERDERIAN