South Africa on Wednesday rejected ”with contempt” claims by jailed British mercenary Simon Mann that it backed his plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
”South Africa is thrown in just out of the blue … he says he had a nod from us. I would like to know in what sense he had a nod. I just can’t take it seriously,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said at a media briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
”In fact … our services have been cooperating to stop any attempts at a coup in any place in Africa, as we do regularly.
”I’m very surprised that anybody is giving Simon Mann’s allegation of South African and Spanish involvement such prominence.
”He throws out one line in the article but gives no indication in what way, how did we support it, whether we gave him funding, whether we gave him the nod, whether we arranged for passport, no indication,” Pahad said.
The Associated Press reported that Mann told Britain’s Channel 4 news that he received indications of support from South Africa and Spain for his plans to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s government.
”We went ahead because [of] the other indications I was getting … from the Spanish government and from the South African government; and the case, most especially the South African government, was that: ‘We want you to go, so go’,” he said.
Pahad said that if there was any truth to the allegation then South Africa’s authorities would have to act.
”If they can come up with serious allegations of South African involvement, the relevant authorities must investigate this and take the necessary action. I don’t believe that there is any truth in it,” he said.
Earlier, Foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said South Africa was a signatory of both African Union and United Nations conventions prohibiting support for mercenary activities and unconstitutional transfers of power.
”Simon Mann must be man enough to bear the consequences of his own actions,” Mamoepa said.
Mann was arrested with about 70 others, mostly former soldiers, when their plane arrived in Zimbabwe from South Africa to collect weapons bought from the Zimbabwean state arms maker in 2004.
Earlier this year, he was controversially extradited from Zimbabwe to Equatorial Guinea, where he was convicted in absentia in November 2004.
He was accused of planning to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea by leading a mercenary force into the capital, Malabo, in an effort to kidnap or kill the president. — Sapa