Letter to an ambassador ....

Tom Wheeler, Ankara, Turkey

Meintjeskop Ditaba No II/1997

Some years ago a newly appointed Ambassador asked me what the desk expected of him.

I wrote him a letter which has since served as the basis of a brief I have given to several Heads of Mission courses at the Foreign Service Institute. The text below has been revised, brought up to date and made more generally relevant. It may be of interest to readers of Ditaba.

Dear ... 

Congratulations on the confirmation of your appointment as Ambassador.

I and the other members of the Department at Head Office look forward to working with you once you take up your position.

I have given some thought to your question as to what the Department expects of you as an Ambassador.

Implicitly, and more recently explicitly, the top management of the Department regard you as the "captain of your ship”.

This has a variety of implications. You are given responsibility for all the activities of your mission and its staff - for the political line function, consular assistance and financial, administrative and personnel management aspects. At the same time your freedom of action is circumscribed by the Department's administrative, consular and financial regulations and legislation like the Public Service Act and the Audit and Exchequer Acts.

As regards your political functions, these can be  divided into representational, information-gathering, political interaction, marketing South African government policy to the host government and people, multilateral diplomacy, and promoting trade, investment and tourism. It is in these areas where it is more difficult for the Department to be prescriptive about how you should perform your task as Ambassador but guidelines are given wherever possible.

How you approach your task will be influenced by your own style, interests and objectives.

The main external influences will be the nature and needs of Government and Departmental policy at any given time and the nature of the relationship between the two countries. For success in this respect, I would urge you to maintain a positive and open relationship with the desk and the top management of the Department. It will be my intention to maintain the same type of relationship and to be supportive of you and your activities within the constraints of the rather different Head Office perspective on relations with any state or government to that which exists at a mission.

Let me comment on each of the aspects I have mentioned above.

Representational

As the South .African Ambassador you represent the President, the Government and the people of South Africa in the country of your accreditation, This office gives you a particular status and entree in that country. It brings with it a range of representational tasks which are frequently more ceremonial than substantial. Nevertheless as the first citizen of South Africa in that country, the way you act will be under close scrutiny and will influence the way the Government and the people of your host country view South Africa and South Africans. 

You will also spend much time in the company of your fellow Heads of Mission accredited to your host country. This provides opportunities to exchange views on your host country, but also on each other's country. Useful contacts and friendships can be built up in this way.

The social aspects of your task can be taxing, but they facilitate contact with a broad spectrum of influential citizens of your host country who can be of importance to you in performing your official duties.

It is desirable, but not necessary, for you and your wife to accept all invitations of a representational nature, or even invitations to speak. In conjunction with your senior staff you may decide to delegate a staff member to represent you on certain occasions.

Careful consideration should be given to the importance of the event and the image that will be projected by your attendance / non-attendance.

Information-gathering

The Department is heavily dependent  on the Embassy as a source of reliable information on a broad spectrum, its foreign policy and its policy and objectives as regards South Africa.

The Embassy has a good team of officials who should be encouraged to develop their contacts and to report and comment thoughtfully and rationally on the information they gather. While newspapers are a good source of leads, the mere rewriting of the contents of articles is not the best use of time.

Rather fax only the most relevant articles and have the staff analyse more deeply by judicious contact with government officials, the media and all facets of civil society.

It would encourage you to ensure that your policy advice and recommendations to Head Office are consistent and well-thought through. Knee-jerk reaction to pronouncements  and events or conflicting personal point  of views of different staff members can be embarrassing and cause criticism of the Embassy.

When you call on senior political leaders, the Foreign Ministry and senior business people or other significant leaders, I would encourage you to take a member of your staff as a “note taker” to prepare a record, and if appropriate, a report to Head Office on your conversation. I would prefer you rather not to report orally as there is then no proper record and misunderstandings can arise. In this connection I would urge you to send your reports for action to the desks concerned (bilateral or multilateral or both) and only for information, where necessary, to the Director General and the political leadership. This will ensure speedy attention being given to your reports while more senior officials are not always immediately available.

Political Interaction with the Host Government

This aspect is closely related to what has gone before. Much of what I have said already is equally applicable here. The difference is perhaps in the degree of assertiveness. This aspect of your task is interactive in the sense that you need to maintain contact with Head Office and decide jointly on each step. Head Office will need reports from your mission to assist in the process of deciding how to proceed. Head Office, of course, looks at a wider picture, involving domestic considerations and our relations with other countries or our interests in multilateral and other issues.

You will on occasion be required to convey to the head of the Government messages which will not be well received or you will have to attempt to convince him to act or not to act in particular ways.

You may not wish to be placed in a position which may seem likely to impact negatively on your relationship with that government, but this will on certain occasions be unavoidable. I would advise that your approach be open, honest and straight forward, avoiding deviousness.

Most important is our approach that the Government does not have a hidden agenda. This will require all the sensitivity, political skill and ability to influence which you have at your disposal and have honed during your career. You will need to get to know the personalities and natures of the leaders you will be dealing with and to judge how best to achieve your objectives with them.

Marketing South African Government Policies

As the public face of the South African Government in your country of accreditation you will on occasion be requested to speak at conferences or to gatherings interested in hearing an official South African point of view or to learn more about our country, its investment or trade potential or our recent political “miracle” .

You may also be invited to participate in TV or radio interviews, especially when high-profile or controversial news events involving South Africa are receiving media attention.

It will be you judgment call whether you accept the invitation and how you approach the interview. Bear in mind, however, that especially in TV the personal impression you leave is more lasting than the information you impart. As I remarked above, you may wish to delegate the responsibility for delivering a speech or giving an interview to a member of your staff. It is for you to decide in conjunction with your advisers (staff) on the most appropriate methods and tactics.

The Department has considerable resources to back you, in the form of information, publications, exhibition material, video and, of course, funding. You should feel free to ask for the support you need.

Multilateral Diplomacy

Multilateral diplomacy has assumed a much greater level of importance since our political transition and since the demise of the bipolar world.

I t is important that your mission have an officer or a section responsible for multilateral issues. These include our relations with the SADC and the discussions with UN, NAM, Commonwealth, OAU and your host government on global issues like disarmament, human rights, international economic affairs and the environment, to name but a few.

From time to time you or your staff will be requested to discuss such issues with the Foreign Ministry or technical departments of your host government and report on their reaction. It is not expected of you to have a deep and profound knowledge of the issues, but the Department will provide you with the necessary briefings and documentation. Electronic data bases on these organisations and Issues, are also accessible to missions.

Visitors

As a result of the political transition, South Africa has become a fashionable place for foreign leaders to visit and, reciprocally, many South African Cabinet Ministers and prominent figures will visit your host country, It will be your role to facilitate, or host as appropriate, these visits and to ensure that they achieve the maximum in terms of goodwill and lasting benefit for South Africa and our relations with your country of accreditation.

Your staff will be of invaluable assistance in arranging programmes and ensuring that proper logistical arrangements are in place. Your mission will often be judged by the success with which you handle visits.

Promoting Trade, Investment and Tourism

The role of the Ambassador as the representative of South Africa lnc in his host country is receiving ever greater emphasis.

Officials of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry are working more closely together to promote South African exports, to encourage investment in South Africa and to look out for tendering opportunities for projects abroad for South African firms,

Your position as Ambassador gives you access at the highest levels of government, commerce and industry, higher than any other member of your staff can achieve. You can, by supporting him/her, help in achieving  successes in these critical areas.,

You can open doors for visiting South African businessmen. The local knowledge of personalities, legislation, culture, opportunities and business practices available in your mission can be invaluable to them in achieving success in their business negotiations.

You will also he in a good position to promote tourism to South Africa.This is a sector with great potential for our country's economic growth.

Management of your mission

You have been associated long enough with Foreign Affairs to know that sound interpersonal relations and good communications in all their facets are the stock-in-trade of our profession,

Those qualities are as important to the success of your leadership of the Embassy as it is in your activities outside.

I would urge you to use to best effect the talents of the diversity of staff members at your disposal. While there are dearly horses for courses in the work context, avoid surrounding yourself with favourites and relying on them to the exclusion of others. It is to the advantage of you as Ambassador and of your staff members that you develop a relationship in which you support their efforts and projects and they in turn provide support and back- up up to you. In this way you are made to "look good" and are a successful representative of your country. 

The officials on the staff in turn get job satisfaction in their particular areas of responsibility and feel that their loyalty and support is rewarded by your willingness to act in support of them and their objectives. Such a relationship of trust is a winner for all parties.

The staff of your mission is made up of representatives of several Departments - usually              Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, the South African Secret Service and possibly the SANDF, the SAPS, Armscor, Customs and Excise, Agriculture and Education have staff stationed in some missions.

While they are placed under your authority for purposes of co-ordination of foreign policy objectives, discipline and administration, they report directly to their own Departments. While this can be a difficult relationship and distinction to make, it is advantageous to all if open communications can be created between the Ambassador and their head of each section/departmental representation, as well as between officers at a lower level.

Your Embassy will also have locally recruited staff as they are the best attuned to local conditions and are useful if not indispensable III your communications in the local language and in translating from the language.

You would be well-advised to promote personal good relations with these valuable members or the staff many of whom spend a lifetime in the service of South Africa.

The Department places much emphasis on planning. Without feeling obliged to make your own ideas subservient to what has gone before, you will probably find much wisdom in what has already been placed on the table. 

An amalgam of your fresh ideas and initiatives and those already tested may be a winning formula for you.

The success of your Ambassadorship depends on many things, several of which I have referred to above. One of the key factors for success is the perceptions in Pretoria and Cape Town of how you are running your Embassy. 

If these rather random thoughts and suggestions on what the Department expects from you as the Ambassador in .... are useful to you in stimulating your thinking and preparing yourself for assuming that role, I will be well satisfied.

With very good wishes for your success.

Yours sincerely, ….