Following the arrest of Dr Wouter Basson, SADF scientists are revealing det= ail
s of its covert chemical programme, writes Peta Thornycroft
SCIENTISTS involved in the development of chemical weapons by the former So= uth
African Defence Force (SADF)have begun talking to authorities, giving deta=
ils
of the sale of chemical weapons technology to Libya after the1994 election=
s.=20
The sales were without the knowledge of the present government.
At least one chemist, and possibly two more, have been co-operating with th= e a uthorities. One was a key figure in the programme, and was formerly connect= ed=20
to two SADF front companies, Delta G, the chemical factory and research fac= ili
ty at Midrand, and Protechnik, an analysis and defensive research laborator= y n ear Hartebeespoort Dam.
The chemists face an enormous dilemma – they don’t know how much their form= er=20
client Wouter Basson is telling the investigators prosecuting him for alleg= edl
y selling the designer drug Ecstasy.=20
Basson is a doctor and toxicologist but not a chemist. As head of South Afr= ica
‘s 7th Medical Division, he was intimately involved with the chemical and b= iol
ogical warfare programme. He knows all those involved in the covert program= me=20
under which South Africa honed its technology for chemical warfare to First= Wo
rld standards.
Information emerging about the SADF’s chemical warfare development programm= e i ndicates the scientists involved made substantial use of the then South Afr= ica
n Police’s forensic laboratories for some of their base ingredients.
In March 1995 Basson acted as a go-between during negotiations by the paras= tat
al Transnet with Libya to build part of a large railway construction projec= t.=20
Transnet was referred to Basson because of his well-established Libyan link= s.=20
He claimed to have been involved in a hospital building programme with the = Lib
yans.=20
The Mail & Guardian has been told that some of the chemicals used in the SA= DF=20
programme are stored in the region. Only a handful of men know exactly wher= e t he chemicals are hidden.
The Office for Serious Economic Offences is investigating the sale of Delta= G=20
to listed chemicals group Sentrachem, and the Roodeplaats animal testing ce= ntr
e to its directors. Basson was arrested last week and substantial documents= we
re found at his Pretoria home.
A breakthrough for investigators looking for the SADF’s chemical warfare se= cre
ts was found in two trunks at the home of one of Basson’s associates, Preto= ria
businessman Sam Bosch.
Meanwhile the M&G has established that the Belgian scientist who first clai= med
that chemical warfare had been used by the MPLA in the Angolan conflict in=
th
e late 1980s, so prompting South Africa to begin pouring millions into its = own
defensive programme, has been convicted of fraud. Dr Aubin Heyndrickx was =
rec
ently found guilty of misusing funds from his employer, the University of G= hen
t, where h e was head of the department of toxicology.
Belgian police are still looking for 12 British-made chemical agent monitor= s w hich Heyndrickx bought with university funds. He said he destroyed the mach= ine
s because they were defective.
South Africa spent many millions of rands on defensive clothing, gas masks = and
other chemical warfare equipment after Heyndrickx said the MPLA forces wer=
e u sing poison gas on Unita in the Angolan war. He refused to allow his findin= gs=20
to be assessed by his peers. His research project was done in loose collabo= rat
ion with a clinic in Mavinga in southern Angola staffed by some SADF person= nel
.
* Defence Minister Joe Modise has stopped the South African National Defenc= e F orce (SANDF)from paying Basson’s bail application legal costs. His deputy, = Ron
nie Kasrils, told the M&G that Modise had ordered on Tuesday, after it emer= ged
the SANDF was provisionally footing the bill, that no payments be made to =
Bas
son’s legal team. Kasrils said the Basson charges were of a purely criminal= na
ture and n ot related to Basson’s SADF duties.
* The office of President Nelson Mandela points out that Mandela never poss= ess
ed a copy of the Steyn Report in which Basson’s chemical warfare activities= we
re detailed. Mandela’s spokesman Parks Mankahlana said press reports, inclu= din
g last week’s Mail & Guardian were incorrect in claiming that Mandela’s of= fic
e had sent a copy of the report to the truth commission for investigation. = =20