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Viewing cable 09CAPETOWN102, FIRST SESSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09CAPETOWN102 2009-05-07 13:33 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Cape Town
VZCZCXRO8734
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0102/01 1271333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071333Z MAY 09 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3069
INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6381
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0097
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2126
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3268
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FT GEORGE G MEADE MD
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAPE TOWN 000102 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S RMARBURG, MJAMES 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT:  FIRST SESSION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 
 
1 (U) Summary.  On May 6, African National Congress President Jacob 
Zuma was elected as South Africa's fourth post apartheid President 
during the first session of the National Assembly. Zuma's election 
comes as no surprise since the ANC has a 65.9 percent majority in 
Parliament and because Zuma has been long seen as the front runner 
in the race for President ever since the ANC's conference in 
Polokwane in December, 2007.  Although The Congress of the People 
(COPE) proposed an alternate candidate in party chairman Mvume 
Dandala, Zuma was the clear winner with 277 votes out of 327.  After 
Zuma's election, all opposition parties publically congratulated him 
on his Presidency and expressed their hope that both the ruling and 
opposition parties could work together.  End summary. 
2. (U) Prior to Zuma's election as President, Chief Justice Pius 
Langa convened the South African National Assembly. During its 
inaugural session, the first since the recent April 22 national 
elections, 400 members of Parliament were sworn in, a Speaker and 
Deputy Speaker were elected, and candidates for President were 
nominated. Among the first group of ten to take the oath was ANC 
President Jacob Zuma. (Note: In order to be eligible for the 
nomination of President a candidate must be a member of parliament. 
End note) 
3. (U) Veteran African National Congress member Max Sisulu was 
elected Speaker of the National Assembly. Sisulu was nominated by 
ANC stalwart Andrew Mlangeni, a nomination that went unopposed. In 
his acceptance speech Sisulu, who is the first male to fill the 
position since 1994, joked that he expected MPs to make the mistake 
of calling him Madam Speaker. Former Cape Town Mayor Nomaindia 
Mfeketo was elected as Deputy Speaker. 
4. (U) After the 400 Members of Parliament were sworn in and the 
Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected, the Speaker called for the 
nomination of the President.  Winnie Mandela, former wife of 
President Nelson Mandela, nominated Jacob Zuma on behalf of the ANC. 
The Congress of the People (COPE) proposed an alternate candidate in 
party chairman Mvume Dandala. As the Parliamentary staff was setting 
up the Chamber for voting, ANC members were singing a tribute song 
to Zuma and dancing in the aisles and in middle of the floor and had 
to be called to order and told to return to their seats.  Members 
were then called on to vote by secret ballot, the Democratic 
Alliance (DA), who hold 67 seats in Parliament, caused a stir in the 
National Assembly when it announced that it would abstain from the 
vote. 
5. (U) With the ANC having a 65.9 percent majority in Parliament, 
Zuma was a "sure-thing" as President, which is one of the reasons 
the DA abstained from the vote.  Out of a total of 327 ballots that 
were cast, Zuma secured 277 votes, Dandala received 47 votes and 3 
ballots were spoiled. Cheers erupted from the floor once the vote 
was read. Opposition parties were then afforded the opportunity to 
congratulate Zuma on his election. All the parties were gracious in 
their congratulations to Zuma and all stressed the need for the 
ruling party and opposition parties to work together.  COPE 
President Dandala gave Zuma his party's best wishes. "Mr. Speaker, 
Mr. President-elect, on behalf of Cope, I wish to congratulate you 
sir on your election as the President of South Africa. We accept 
that the people of South Africa have spoken and we will give our 
Qthat the people of South Africa have spoken and we will give our 
support to the highest office of this nation." In his remarks to 
President Zuma, The representative from the Minority Front party 
stressed the need to include opposition parties, namely the Minority 
Front party, in the Cabinet.  The Democratic Alliance responded by 
saying it was not appropriate for the Minority Front party to lobby 
Zuma for a job in a public forum. 
6. (U)  In his acceptance speech President-elect Zuma said he looks 
forward to reconciliation between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom 
Party (IFP).  Note.  The IFP, a traditional Zulu party, is based in 
KZN and there were several incidents of violence in the lead up to 
the elections between the ANC and IFP in the Province.  End note. 
He also promised more pro-poor policies to improve housing, 
education, jobs, services and crime prevention for South Africa's 
impoverished. He has also warned that the global economic downturn 
may limit his room for maneuvering, but stressed his commitment to 
the people of South Africa.  Comment.  Zuma takes on an economy that 
may already be in its first recession in 17 years. Despite fears 
that internal political pressure would force him to pursue 
left-leaning economic policies he maintains that he will not tamper 
with existing fiscal policy. The fate of Finance Minister Trevor 
Manuel, widely respected by financial markets, will also be closely 
watched by investors hoping for continuity. End comment.  Zuma will 
be inaugurated on May 9 and Presidency spokesperson Thabo Masebe 
confirmed that the composition of the Cabinet will be announced in 
Pretoria a day after Zuma's inauguration.  During his speech, Zuma 
said his Cabinet will be ready to assume office by May 11. 
 7. (U) During his remarks, Zuma jokingly said he wants an honorary 
life time membership in Parliament since he has been in and out of 
Parliament several times, but is no longer a Member of Parliament 
now that he has been elected President.  Note.  Zuma was forced to 
resign as deputy head of state in 2005 after his financial adviser 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000102  002 OF 002 
 
 
was handed a 15-year prison sentence for bribery charges. Zuma has 
been in and out of courtrooms over the last few years on charges of 
corruption and money-laundering relating to the arms deal. His 
supporters say the charges were politically motivated to prevent him 
from becoming President, a claim the opposition dismisses. After an 
internal struggle with then President Mbeki, Zuma was elected as 
chairman of the ANC at the Polokwane conference in December 2007, a 
move which ultimately resulted in the removal of Mbeki as President 
in 2008. All charges against Zuma were dropped a few weeks before 
the April 22 election, clearing the way for him to assume the 
Presidency. End note. 
 
 
.