Two more men arrested in different South African towns in an international probe into weapons of mass destruction may appear in court on Thursday.
This follows the sudden and unexplained withdrawal of charges against another accused in Vanderbijlpark on Wednesday.
One of the men was arrested at about 7pm on Wednesday night on Durban’s beachfront and the other in Randburg, Johannesburg, by the police’s serious and violent crimes unit, said police spokesperson Director Sally de Beer.
Both are in custody. De Beer said she did not know when they would appear in court.
They faced charges under the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Act and the Nuclear Energy Act, she said, but did not know the details of the charges.
Last week engineering firm director Johan Meyer was arrested at his company Trade Fin Engineering in Vanderbijlpark and was meant to face three charges under the Acts relating to a piece of equipment that could be used to enrich uranium.
Enriched uranium can be used for the detonation of nuclear bombs, besides having medical applications.
Eleven containers allegedly containing components of a gas centrifuge and related documents were seized from the factory and transported to Pelindaba, where South Africa’s nuclear research facility is located.
A centrifuge is used in the process of separating and enriching uranium particles.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors currently in the country, and the police would ”maintain control over the equipment”, according to SA’s Council for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Shortly after Meyer’s first court appearance on Wednesday, he returned to court and the case against him was withdrawn.
His attorney Heinrich Badenhorst would not comment on whether he had agreed to assist with the international investigation, which has been linked to the ”AQ Khan network”.
AQ Khan was once a leading figure in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme and has since reportedly admitted to selling components to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
A Cape Town-based man was arrested in Denver in the United States and a Randburg-based man was recently taken in for questioning in Germany, reportedly in connection with the investigation.
When contacted for comment, the Randburg-based man’s attorney would not say whether he was one of the people arrested on Wednesday night. – Sapa