Pretoria | Thursday
CHEMICAL warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson on Thursday told the Pretoria High Court of his dangerous experiments, which on at least two occasions caused him to be admitted to hospital.
Basson earlier testified that he had spent three days in hospital after a canister containing ammonia exploded in his pocket.
On Thursday he told the court of the effects of teargas, which also saw him spending three days in hospital.
”I never gave anyone orders to do something that I was not prepared to do myself. The acquisition of substances (drugs) was dangerous, but no more dangerous than the CR (new generation teargas) grenade that (Dr Phillip) Mijburgh (managing Director of SADF front company Delta G) and I tested.
”Baboons were placed inside a plastic hut in cages. A number of grenades were placed inside the hut. We watched from outside to see how the baboons reacted. At one stage the smoke became too thick so that we could not see. I suited up, put on a gas mask and went inside.
”The first baboon sat there eating quite calmly. The second one gave my gas mask one look, did a double somersault and defecated all over his cage. The third one also sat eating.
”I was very angry. I thought there was something wrong with the grenade. In a fit of temper, I pulled off my gas mask and threw it onto the ground. I fell down with the gas mask. Luckily, Mijburgh was outside and could drag me out. I spent three days in hospital.
”The baboons did not react at all to the irritating effect (of the teargas) on the lungs and eyes,” he said.
Basson on Thursday claimed that he had in the 1990’s managed to get the results of tests by the Americans and Russians on the effects of substances such as BZ (which in some cases caused severe aggression even against fellow troops) and cocaine.
According to Basson, the Russians had actually tested a variant of BZ on their troops in groups of 10, and he was present in the early 1990’s when such tests were conducted in Moscow and Leningrad and saw the physical effects on human beings.
Delta G later added cocaine to the BZ in an attempt to temper the aggressive effect it had.
According to Basson Delta G had tested about 24 different incapacitators and irritants through the years, especially after orders by the then State President FW de Klerk in 1990 that the SADF should concentrate its research on these substances.
Only Methaqualone (used in the manufacture of Mandrax) and Ecstasy were ever produced in large quantities at Delta G.
Basson insisted that Delta G had received written authorisation from the various Ministers of Police throughout the years to research and manufacture various drugs.
The police had also supplied Delta G with a variety of drugs, including half a ton of Mandrax tablets and nine tons of dagga for research purposes.
Basson described in detail the effects of various drugs and said their research was specifically aimed at using the substances to control crowds under various circumstances.
Some of the drugs, such as BZ, had the ability to permanently alter the human brain.
Basson was adamant that South Africa had never tested the effects of the drugs on human subjects, and only ever tested it on laboratory animals.
The trial continues. – Sapa