An alleged kingpin in the network that helped states acquire illicit nuclear technology has left a trail of footprints in South Africa.
The Regional Court in Vanderbijlpark on Tuesday denied bail to two South African residents who had allegedly manufactured part of a uranium-enrichment plant destined for Libya.
The investigation into the affairs of the two men — German South African Gerhard Wisser and Swiss South African Daniel Geiges — as well as of their claimed accomplice, Johan Meyer, who has turned state witness, has opened a Pandora’s box of allegations on local links to the international nuclear underground.
One of the kingpins in the supply network is alleged to be a German national, Gotthard Lerch. Statements made by Wisser to South African and German investigators show how closely Lerch has been connected to this country, in matters nuclear and as a property investor.
The international ring, which is alleged to have supplied components and expertise to illicit nuclear programmes in Libya, Iran and North Korea, was exposed after a series of related events last year: in October, a ship named the BBC China was stopped in Italy, en route to Libya, carrying a cargo of parts for centrifuges used in uranium enrichment. And in December, Libya publicly renounced its nuclear programme and has been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency to break the illicit supply chain.
In this context, Lerch’s name has cropped up prominently alongside those of Abdul Qadeer “AQ” Khan, the revered father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, and Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, a Sri-Lankan businessman with interests in Dubai and Malaysia.
Khan, after whom the supply ring has been named the “AQ Khan network,” has publicly confessed his role, but received indemnity from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Tahir has been arrested in Malaysia in connection with the BBC China shipment. German authorities have said they are investigating Lerch.
The first indication of a local link to the illicit supply chain was when a Vanderbijlpark firm, Tradefin Engineering, was raided on September 1 and one of its senior employees, Meyer, was arrested on nuclear proliferation charges.
Found at Tradefin were 11 sea-freight containers loaded with about 200 tonnes of equipment, described by investigators as part of a uranium-enrichment plant.
A week later, Meyer turned state witness and Wisser and Geiges were arrested on similar charges. Evidence presented during their bail application suggests that Wisser, the MD of Krisch Engineering in Johannesburg, had brokered Tradefin and Meyer’s involvement in the project on behalf of the international network. Geiges, an engineer at Krisch Engineering, was seconded to work on the plant at Meyer’s firm.
During their bail application, Wisser and Geiges denied knowing the plant built at Tradefin was for nuclear purposes, saying they were under the impression it was for water purification. But large amounts of money changed hands for this “high-purity water” plant. Wisser has admitted receiving a “commission” of â,¬1-million (about R8-million), and said in an affidavit that Meyer had received R38-million.
Much that is known about the case comes from two voluntary statements made by Wisser, first to authorities in Germany and then in South Africa. From these it appears that Wisser is partly the author of his own misfortune — while he denied his own witting involvement, he supplied information that seems to have contributed to the Tradefin raid and, ultimately, to Tradefin’s Meyer turning against him and Geiges.
The statements confirm an earlier exposÃ