Johannesburg | Sunday
THE Cuban government knew during the Angolan conflict about apartheid South Africa’s nuclear capability, and took steps to protect its troops there, Cuban President Fidel Castro said on Saturday.
In a marathon address at the closing ceremony of the NGO forum on racism in Durban, he said Cuban troops fighting on the Angolan side had adopted special tactics and deployed a thousand anti-aircraft units in a bid to reduce the effect of a nuclear strike.
”While we were fighting close to the Namibian border where there was the possibility of great battles to be fought in that area, the forces of the apartheid regime had seven nuclear warheads, and Europe was aware of that,” he said.
He said the technology for the devices had been supplied by Israel, which in turn had had aid from some European countries in developing its own programme.
Although there had been reports that South Africa had the bomb, this was admitted only long after the end of the Angolan conflict, by then-president FW de Klerk.
He announced in 1993 that South Africa had made six warheads and that all had been dismantled.
Castro, who spoke for an hour and a half while Deputy President Jacob Zuma waited patiently on the dias behind him for his turn, was greeted by a sea of Cuban paper flags, and shouts of ”Cuba, Cuba” from the several thousand NGO delegates in his audience.
He said the forum was a ”symbol of the future”, and that he realised people were trying to build a new world, in which justice prevailed.
”We should be hopeful, that is how we conceive the world of tomorrow, that is how we conceive the United Nations of tomorrow,” he said.
”There are many obstacles to overcome but we are hopeful that a new United Nations system is emerging, really new, without the privileges of the veto.”
He was referring to the power of veto enjoyed by major powers in the UN security council.
Zuma said there was reason to be concerned about the rise in xenophobia in most parts of the world, including South Africa, where xenophobia resulted from an ”apartheid-era isolationist mindset”.
It had been fuelled by perceptions that the arrival of immigrants led to scarcity of resources for citizens. The fact was that several countries supported South Africa’s liberation struggle, and paid a high price for doing so.
”This makes it crucial that we begin to intensify mechanisms of educating our people to accept and welcome people from beyond our national borders. This would assist to eradicate suspicion and prejudice against what is regarded as the outsider.”
The closing ceremony, which began late and was still continuing as night fell, was due to be followed by a delayed plenary to adopt a final declaration and plan of action.
The adoption, which was to have happened on Saturday morning, was postponed because of problems in translating and duplicating draft documents.
CNS Resources on South Africa’s Nuclear Weapons Program
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