— Saad Cachalia, Ambassador of South Africa
If diplomacy is art, as they say, then, he is a born artist. With a law degree under his belt and decades of public engagement experience at political grassroots, he is not just apt at finding his audience; he employs his gifted diplomatic skills effortlessly. With his characteristic non bureaucratic demeanour, he charms you into a conversation. From world politics to football to falconry and art, he can talk about anything for hours.
In one such candid interview with Community, Saad Cachalia, the ambassador of South Africa to Qatar, opens up about his political life, first ever ambassadorial assignment and a new-found love for sub-continental classical music among other things.
Before landing in Doha in 2012, Cachalia served as a provincial minister of finance back home. He is a lawyer by profession, specialising in international human rights law.
“I remained active mainly for the political activists, who were opposed to the (apartheid) government of that time. I was very much part of that movement as well. I used my legal profession to assist our people when they got arrested,” says Cachalia, sitting in his guest cordon sofa in his neatly decorated office.
“In 1994, I got into the first democratic government of South Africa led by President Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress. I was there in the provincial legislature serving in different capacities right until 2012 when I was asked to come here,” he recalls, with a smile.
And Qatar he found “very interesting, very exciting.” Normally, they say, politicians must not interfere in the public service, that it must run independently. Yet his political experience has taught him public engagement skills and the same he is now using to advance his job as a diplomat.
Going through four elections in South Africa and getting involved at the grass roots level for votes, you learn that there are strategies and tactics one needs to employ within the democratic process when you talk to people.
“I know nothing better than this. When I came here I interacted with people at the level where it matters. I came here as a political activist and I approach diplomacy like that. I did not need to learn diplomacy; I already had it in me. I needed to learn protocol though,” he concedes.
The ambassador says he had to learn how to get a perfect tie-knot, and conduct himself in diplomatic settings and all those little things that form the logistics of being a diplomat like which part of the car you sit in when the flag must fly.
His approach to diplomacy is simple. Qatar, he says, is very popular among countries. There are over 100 embassies here and everyone is looking for the attention of Qatar. Everyone is looking for business with Qatar and to promote tourism of their own countries. So how do you get it?
“For me, you need to make people feel what South Africa is. I need to promote my country to them. So I do it wherever I find people from Qatar like at their homes, offices, majlis, etc. I spend a lot of my time out of my office,” says Cachalia.
Qatar had pleasantly surprised him when he first arrived here. He knew it was a country with a booming economy but he arrived here without much expectation. In the last four years, however, he says he has seen Qatar develop with brand new city centres coming up.
“I have visited every corner of Qatar. I get in my car and I move. I drive a Mitsubishi Pajero which I got when I came here. So I put my wife in my car, and I go. Sometimes I go with a few South Africans,” says Cachalia.
There are about 5,000 South Africans living here, working in oil and gas sector, teaching, nursing, and engineering and financial services sectors.
At the embassy, Ambassador Saad Cachalia is in the process of launching a system — slated for September — that will enable all South Africans here in Qatar to get in touch with one another.
With Qatar, he says, South Africa is looking to engage in co-operation in different areas, including the Football World Cup, transferring their own experience as hosts of 2010 FIFA World Cup. There is already co-operation on security and police issues besides setting up of special courts and dealing with the health issues as World Cup attracts people from all over the world.
“World Cup is not just teams playing in the stadiums. It is a whole lot of preparation that goes into it and making it a success. That experience we want to share with Qatar, and we are already doing it,” says the ambassador.
He says the two countries have also agreed to enhance trade cooperation during the visit of South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma earlier this year.
In his leisure, Cachalia says he loves to spend time around animals. He loves falcons, horses, dogs and camels and has been to many camel and Saluki dogs’ races in the desert. Fishing is his other love.
“I am also a music lover. I have been a regular visitor to Lincoln Jazz at St. Regis. There is a resident South African band at Oryx Rotana which I visit. And since I have arrived here, I have been introduced to sub-continental music by people from Pakistan and India,” says the ambassador.
He has come to enjoy the Qawwali music and has (Amir) Khusro’s Chaap Tilak (a qawwali) on his iPad. In other music from sub-continent, he has become a fan of classical and has maestros like Amjad Ali Khan, Late Pandit Ravi Shankar and Zakir Hussain from India up his playlist.
“I have learnt this in Qatar; understanding music beyond just fun and dancing. You can sit down and meditate with it. It is soothing,” says Cachalia.
In these hot days of summer, he prefers to stay indoors and read. Come winter, and off he goes. He is a regular visitor of Katara Cultural Village and Museum of Islamic Art (MIA). Speaking of rich tourism in his own country, the ambassador says there has been a steady increase in number of tourists going to South Africa from here.
Towards the last quarter of this year, he says his embassy is planning to organise some great cultural events from South Africa in Qatar. Cachalia also sees an increase in the number of South Africans coming to Qatar in future particularly in management jobs.
For him, he says his first ambassadorial assignment has been “fantastic” as he was able to serve his country which he always wanted to do. And Qatar has been a wonderful experience, he concludes.











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