A chemical plant developing nerve gas was one of the front companies set up by the SADF, writes Eddie Koch
THE South African Defence Force conducted an expensive programme to test and develop state-of-the-art nerve gases at a secret plant called Delta G in Midrand near Johannesburg as part of a chemical warfare programme that was developed by Pretoria during the apartheid era.
The research and development programme was designed to create nerve gases that could immobilise enemy forces for a number of hours but not kill them, making it possible to overrun and occupy strategic installations without exposing friendly forces to dangerous compounds.
The Delta G plant — which operated as a privately owned pharmaceutical company in the 1980s — was one of numerous front companies set up by the SADF to develop chemical and biological warfare capabilities. The factory was taken over by the industrial chemicals company Sentrachem late in 1993 and converted for normal industrial purposes.
The existence of a network of companies that developed chemical warfare equipment for the military has emerged from various sources. These include a probe by the attorney general’s office into possible irregularities in the finances of some of the front companies and an investigation being conducted by the Sunday Tribune newspaper. Jan Swanepoel, head of the office for Serious Economic Offences in the AG’s office, confirmed that the network is under investigation in connection with a “flow of funds connected with an army project”. A top-secret report has been handed to Justice Minister Dullah Omar on the matter.
Environmental activists from Earthlife Africa, one of South Africa’s largest green groups, have long suspected that the Midrand plant was used for chemical warfare purposes. The suspicions were aroused in early 1992, when the organisation found that Delta G had polluted a local stormwater drain with highly toxic phenol substances. An investigation was launched into the matter — with the co-operation of the Department of Water Affairs — and the company was prosecuted for breaching local environmental regulations. Now sources who worked inside Delta G before it was taken over by Sentrachem have confirmed some of the work there involved the development of sophisticated nerve gases.
The sources say the programme did not reach the stage of mass production by the time it was abandoned. Senior officials in the military have confirmed that Delta G was a front company for the SADF’s medical services but insist that the work done there — and also at other firms in the secret network — was only to develop a defensive capacity against the use of chemical agents by enemy forces.
However, the officials admit that it was necessary to develop the toxic compounds being used in chemical warfare in order to create defensive systems against them. They insist that no large stockpiles of offensive chemical or biological agents were produced as part of the programme — but concede that it would have been possible to convert from a defensive to offensive chemical weapons mode.
Sentrachem purchased Delta G in August 1993. At the time Delta G was formally run as a private company owned by its directors. However some of these officials were former employees of the SADF’s medical services and took over the company in order to privatise aspects of the chemical weapons research programme.
“When we bought the company it was privately owned by some of its directors,” says Delta’s current MD, Anthony Corin. “At the time the work that had been conducted there was protected by industrial confidentiality and secrecy agreements so we were not entitled to any information.” He added this was normal commercial practice and did not appear sinister.
The plant is currently used by Sentrachem solely for civilian purposes in the agrochemical, pharmaceutical and various speciality markets. Commercial products now made at Delta G include fungicides, intermediate compounds used in the manufacture of herbicides, and ingredients for the manufacture of antiseptic medicines.