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Viewing cable 08PRETORIA2546, ZIMBABWE FEATURED AT SOUTH AFRICAN CABINET MEETING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08PRETORIA2546 2008-11-20 15:24 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Pretoria
P 201524Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6487
INFO AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL DURBAN PRIORITY 
AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG PRIORITY 
CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS PRETORIA 002546 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S J. FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL ZANU SF ZM
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE FEATURED AT SOUTH AFRICAN CABINET MEETING 
 
1. On November 19, 2008 the South African Government's (SAG) 
cabinet discussed Zimbabwe and other issues.  The SAG 
released a statement on November 20.  Text related to 
Zimbabwe follows: 
 
2. Begin text: Cabinet is extremely concerned about the 
political impasse that is creating a humanitarian crisis in 
Zimbabwe.  The reported outbreak of cholera in parts of that 
country is a clear indication that ordinary Zimbabweans are 
the true victims of their leaders' lack of political will and 
failure to demonstrate seriousness to resolve the political 
impasse.  The Government is disappointed to note that 
political interests have taken priority at the expense of the 
lives of ordinary Zimbabweans. 
 
South Africa calls on the leaders of Zimbabwe to take urgent 
steps to finalise the amendments to their constitution, the 
allocation of the remaining Cabinet posts and the formation 
of a representative Government without any further delay and 
before the situation of ordinary Zimbabweans degenerates any 
further.  No amount of political disagreement can ever 
justify the suffering that ordinary Zimbabweans are being 
subjected to at the moment.  Like SADC, South Africa would 
like to see a political settlement sooner rather than later 
so that the region could start focusing on the most urgent 
measures needed to rebuild Zimbabwe's economy. 
 
Cabinet decided that South Africa should immediately assist 
the people of Zimbabwe to address the cholera outbreak as 
well as scaling up malaria control activities in the cross 
border area.  South Africa is already in discussions with 
multilateral agencies such as SADC and the World Health 
Organisation in this regard.  A strategy will be put in place 
on an urgent basis to provide assistance to the people of 
Zimbabwe and to provide support to our health authorities in 
the Limpopo province to enable them to cope with the serious 
situation. 
 
An Interdepartmental Task Team will be set up urgently to 
identify and implement measures to ensure that the reported 
service delivery crisis in Zimbabwe does not lead to 
increased cross-border movement to the health facilities in 
the Limpopo province that are already over-stretched.  The 
team will be led by the Department of Health and will include 
the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Water Affairs and 
Forestry, Provincial and Local Government.  Other departments 
will be joining the team on a needs basis. 
 
The meeting noted that the window of opportunity for South 
Africa to provide assistance to the agricultural sector in 
Zimbabwe had passed due to the failure of Zimbabwean 
political leaders to form a representative government. 
Cabinet decided that the approved R300 million will be 
retained for agricultural assistance to Zimbabwe.  However, 
this money will be only disbursed once a representative 
government was in place and in time for the next planting 
season in April 2009.  The Minister of Agriculture and Land 
Affairs will prepare a proposal on South Africa's 
contribution to address the immediate humanitarian situation 
in Zimbabwe. 
 
3. End text. 
 
 
BOST