FRIDAY, 3.00PM
ANGOLA’S Unita rebel movement, apparently preparing to return to war with the Angolan government in the north of the country, is receiving war matriel from South Africa, according to reports by the Institute for Security Studies.
Institute senior researcher Jakkie Potgieter said that during filed trips last November and in March, he saw military supplies being offloaded and stored in northern Mozambique for shipment to Unita forces on Angola’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The origin of the matriel is unclear, with many of the arms though to have come from Eastern Europe, while ration packs and medical supplies are South African.
Potgieter’s reports say weapons are transported to a Taiwanese prawn processing plant near Mozambique’s most northerly port, Nacala. They are then airlifted to Angola from Nampula, 50km away from Nacala. Potgieter says he also saw an Indian-flagged coaster offloading arms and ammunition at Nacala, where they were stored in grain silos before being airlifted to Unita.
All SA arms exports require authorisation from the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, chaired by Kader Asmal. The committee would never approve supply of arms, ammunition or materials to Angola, or to any organisation or individual in Angola.