Cablegate: Rural South Africa: Change Comes Slowly to Mandela's Home

VZCZCXRO1919
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #2611 3551417
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211417Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0669
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 7458
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 1522
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 9813

UNCLAS PRETORIA 002611

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR SF
SUBJECT: RURAL SOUTH AFRICA: CHANGE COMES SLOWLY TO MANDELA'S HOME
VILLAGE

1. (SBU) PolCouns and PolAssist visited Nelson Mandela's birthplace
of Mvezo, and also the former President's current rural home in Qunu
in Eastern Cape Province December 7-8. Qunu is located along the
main N2 highway, 30 km south of Mthatha, the district headquarters,
in an area that was part of the Transkei "homeland" under apartheid.
Mvezo is 28 km further up a dirt road from Qunu, and is a tiny
impoverished community of brightly- painted small houses and mud
huts scattered across a cluster of hills. The district has a
population of over 26,000 people. Most residents of Mvezo have no
access to basic services like water and electricity; and local
people complain that the area has seen little development since
1994. Other than small farming, there is little employment in the
area, and many families depended on government grants.

2. (SBU) Hopes for development in Mvezo have, however, increased
since the appointment of the 34-year-old Zwelivelile ("Mandla")
Mandela - Nelson Mandela's eldest grandson - to the chieftaincy of
the Mvezo Traditional Council 18 months ago. (FYI: Nelson Mandela's
father had been the Chief in Mvezo until he was unseated by the
colonial authorities in the early 1920s. The family was then forced
to move to Qunu. End FYI.) The younger Mandela told Polcouns and
PolAssist how when he arrived in the village to take up the position
of traditional leader, many locals had laughed and wagered he would
be gone by the next day. He has, however, proved his cynics wrong,
and become an active presence and a strong advocate for the
district's development. In addition, he was elected an MP on the
ANC list in last April's elections. Mandela has prioritized
providing more schools, better roads, running water, and sanitation
for the area. He has gained a seat on Parliament's new Committee
for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, a position he intends to
use to pursue these goals. His presence in the village has sparked
hope among villagers that the area will finally receive attention
from a government hard pressed to bring change to South Africa's
rural poor.

3. (SBU) Since assuming the chieftaincy, the younger Mandela has
helped set up a mobile clinic in the area with funds donated by the
US-based Family Health International (FHI). The Department of
Health has also begun construction of a clinic in the area, which
Mandela said he is hoping to get upgraded to a mini-hospital, also
with FHI support. He linked this effort to the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
which has ravaged the area, as is the case in many parts of South
Africa; the younger Mandela has taken an active role in persuading
villagers to get tested for HIV/Aids and begin treatment if
necessary. He also linked the pandemic to his advocacy for the
creation of a high school in the area, arguing that young people who
stayed closer to home were less likely to engage in risky sexual
behavior.

4. (SBU) Mandela told Polcouns and PolAssist that employment in the
district other than subsistence farming had been virtually
nonexistent until recently. In the past year or so, however, he had
managed to persuade the government to begin construction of a
multi-million dollar cultural center in the village which is
intended to house both a museum to commemorate his grandfather's
birth and early life, as well as the local traditional courts. The
center and adjacent restored village compound have been declared a
National Heritage Site by the Department of Cultural Affairs, which
QNational Heritage Site by the Department of Cultural Affairs, which
he hopes will attract tourism and generate employment for the area.
He added that he had already begun using the construction of the
center to justify bringing in a tarred road as well. He
acknowledged, however, that local development will be a long
struggle. The area still has no electricity and no water supply,
and unemployment remains high.

5. (SBU) The younger Mandela contrasted Mvezo with many urban
townships, noting that the latter have received considerably more
development funding over the past 15 years than most rural areas.
Yet, he noted, it is in the townships where most service delivery
protests have taken place. He argued that, in rural areas like his,
where traditional leaders maintain authority and are active both in
hearing people's grievances and advocating for development, citizens
are more prepared to put up with the slow pace of change. This, he
said, showed that traditional leaders have a very real role to play
in bridging the gap between South Africa's past and its future. End
comment.
Gips

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