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Viewing cable 09CAPETOWN82, RUSSELL BOTMAN DISCUSSES THE RACE FOR THE WESTERN CAPE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09CAPETOWN82 2009-04-01 07:06 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Cape Town
VZCZCXRO5962
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0082 0910706
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010706Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3038
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6352
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0086
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2110
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3253
UNCLAS CAPE TOWN 000082 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT:  RUSSELL BOTMAN DISCUSSES THE RACE FOR THE WESTERN CAPE 
 
1. (U) On March 6, CG and PAO met with Professor Russell Botman, the 
rector of Stellenbosch University and former Congress of the People 
(COPE) nominee for the Western Cape Premiership. Professor Botman 
made news headlines earlier this month when he was tipped as COPE's 
nominee for Premier of the Western Cape. After much deliberation and 
media speculation, he declined the offer to run as COPE's candidate 
for Premier, a move which paved the way for fellow cleric Alan 
Boesak to lead the party in the province. Botman discussed his 
decision not to accept the COPE nomination and gave his insights 
into the election. 
2. (SBU) Botman told CG and PAO that while he had no personal 
regrets regarding his decision, he did have regrets for COPE. 
Botman is a well respected cleric in both the colored and white 
communities in the Western Cape and COPE hoped that he could capture 
not only the colored vote, but that of white Afrikaners as well. He 
said that COPE had been hoping for "white money" and that they hoped 
to gain white support through his nomination. He added that every 
time COPE campaigned in white communities in the Western Cape they 
were told, "you get Botman to run for Premier, then come back and 
we'll talk."  Botman thinks that COPE would not garner much support 
among the white voters since he is no longer the candidate in the 
Western Cape and indicated that the party could not win the province 
without that support base. In addition, he feels he would have been 
able to beat the Democratic Alliance (DA) by securing the colored 
vote, but does not see Boesak having the same success as he is too 
tainted. 
 
 
3. (SBU) Professor Botman believes the DA will successfully secure 
the colored vote and carry the province, although he said it was 
more likely that the province will be run by a coalition. The 
question is therefore whether it will be a DA-COPE coalition, a 
DA-ANC coalition, or an ANC-COPE coalition. Botman feels that 
although DA leader Helen Zille is formidable she has alienated many 
potential partners and burnt too many bridges making it hard for her 
to form a coalition with any other party at this point. Botman 
concluded the meeting by saying that South Africa needs an 
alternative to the ANC which is why he was tempted to take COPE's 
offer.  However, he does not think he could effectively run 
Stellenbosch University and be involved in politics at the same time 
and taking Stellenbosch into the future is, at this time, a priority 
for him. Interestingly he did not rule out the possibility that he 
may be involved in politics in the future. 
 
 
4. (U) Biographic Note:  Botman holds a number of degrees, including 
a Doctorate of Theology from the University of the Western Cape.  He 
is currently the University of Stellenbosch's vice-chancellor and 
former president of the South African Council of Churches and has 
long been involved in the anti-apartheid struggle.  In 1989 he 
received a special award from the Town Council of Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin as a leading champion for justice. He is a non-Executive 
Director of Media 24 and Chairperson of the Absa Klein Karoo 
National Arts Festival and is an internationally-known theologian 
who has advised the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Geneva on 
several topics.  He has contributed to a number of books and has 
also published 14 articles in theological magazines and made a 
number of contributions to popular journals.  End note.