The South African government has welcomed the announcement by the United States State Department that the debarment of Armscor, Fuchs and Denel has been rescinded.
In a statement by Ronnie Mamoepa on behalf of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad, he said the debarment was originally instituted in 1994 as a result of activities undertaken in the US by these companies during the pre-1994 arms embargo era.
“The debarment was suspended in 1998 as a result of an agreement reached in this regard between the South African government and the US administration,” noted Mamoepa.
Pahad welcomed the US statement that the South African government instituted concrete “and far-reaching measures to establish a comprehensive and effective national export control regime”.
The deputy minister confirmed that South Africa is in agreement with the US position that the previously debarred companies have developed effective export compliance programmes that meet the criteria of both governments.
Pahad indicated that this announcement has removed the final impediment in defence-industry relations between the two countries. He encouraged Denel, Fuchs, Armscor and the South African defence industry at large to use the window provided by this announcement to actively pursue business opportunities in the US.
Pahad expressed his appreciation towards the officials of the US State Department and the representatives of Armscor, Denel and Fuchs for the positive and cooperative manner in which they approached the discussions that were held to find a mutually acceptable outcome to the issue. — I-Net Bridge
SA can now sell arms to the US