An Angolan intelligence chief alleges South Africans are still involved in covert support of rebel movement Unita. By Stefaans Brummer
South African companies continue to supply Angolan rebel movement Unita with military equipment in contravention of a United Nations ban and South African government policy, claims the Angolan intelligence service.
Angolan government armed forces intelligence chief “General Itha” this month gave the Weekly Mail & Guardian a list of companies, individuals and aircraft he claimed were involved in “covert support” of Unita “in spite of the transition to democracy in South Africa”.
Itha alleged food, medicine and military means from South Africa have been flown mostly to Zaire — whose president, Mobutu Sese Seko, is known to support Unita leader Jonas Savimbi — from where it is redirected to Unita bases inside Angola.
Aircraft registrations provided by Itha list Zairean, Namibian and South African-registered aircraft. Itha said information on aircraft had been communicated to the South African government “through the right channels”. The “channel” is understood from sources in Angola to be South Africa’s National Intelligence Service.
NIS operatives this week declined to comment. A South African Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman denied any recent communication on the matter from the Angolan government, but said it was “logical South African agencies would want to monitor” whether South Africans were involved with Unita.
The spokesman added: “If there are people sending to Unita, it would be small operations. One comes across certain names.” He claimed only “consumer products” would be transported — and pointed out that the UN embargo on Unita instituted in September last year proscribed only military supplies, military assistance and petroleum products.
But the spokesman acknowledged it was possible illegal flights could take place. “There is a difficulty in the region as far as monitoring of aircraft is concerned. If a flight operator files false flight plans, there is nothing we can do.”
Inquiries in the private aviation industry confirm the possibility of flights in support of Unita still taking place in contravention of the UN embargo or, in the case of goods not prohibited by the embargo, without flight clearance from Angolan authorities.
One operator flying from Lanseria airport near Johannesburg said he knew of a company that had flown fuel to Unita after the embargo, and that his company had been approached by various people who wanted diesel delivered to Unita.
Another Lanseria-based operator said he had recently been approached by someone who had wanted him to fly a large amount of Unita cash out of Angola.
Inquiries in aviation circles about companies, individuals and aircraft alleged by Itha to be involved elicited allegations that some of them have been involved in murky dealings.
There were allegations of one company on Itha’s list having disregarded its flight plan after flying to an African destination north of South Africa, while another company named by Itha was said to have been started by Daniel Coetzer, a South African widely rumoured to be a former KGB spy. Coetzer was not available for comment, but a close friend denied he would help Unita and said rumours he had worked for the KGB were “rubbish”. She confirmed he had aviation interests elsewhere in Africa.
One aircraft registration supplied by Itha was traced to Niemoller Pharmaceuticals in Upington. The owner, Johan Niemoller, was overseas and not available for comment, but a company spokesman confirmed the aircraft belonged to Niemoller and that the aircraft had been flying to Angola, but denied it had been in support of Unita.
Niemoller is a former Civil Co-operation Bureau agent, found by a Namibian inquest court earlier this year to have been, on prima facie evidence, involved in the plot to assassinate Swapo activist Anton Lubowski.
A spokesman for South Africa’s national air control service, ATNS, said there were “ways and means” for aircraft operators to circumvent air controls by, for example, diverting from a domestic flight destination, for which no flight plan was required, to an external destination.
* The WM&G has the names of two South Africans allegedly recruiting South African soldiers or former soldiers as mercenaries for Unita. Remuneration of up to US$10 000 has been mentioned. The Foreign Affairs spokesman said it “would not surprise me” if South African soldiers were involved with Unita, but said his department had no information about any large-scale operations.