South Africans have been re-assured by the country’s Minister of Defence and Military Veterans it has no undeclared stockpiles of hazardous or warfare chemicals, nor any intent or practice placing it in non-compliance with relevant legislation and its internationally binding commitments.
The assurance by Angie Motshekga was part of her written response to a Parliamentary question asked by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Member of Parliament (MP) Carl Niehaus. His inquiry referenced “allegations made confidentially by scientists during a joint parliamentary oversight visit by the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans and Joint Standing Committee on Defence on 26 March 2025 to certain companies…that the Republic has not destroyed its chemical and germ warfare capabilities as agreed with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and that quantities of hazardous chemicals are still stored in secret to avoid detection during OPCW compliance inspections.”
Motshekga “categorically confirmed that South Africa has no undeclared stockpiles of hazardous or warfare chemicals, nor any intent or practice that would place it in non-compliance with relevant legislation”.
She noted there is a local council to oversee issues relating to non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The council was established in terms of the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the responsible government entity is Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) where Minister Parks Tau holds sway.
The Council is responsible for controlling, registering and inspecting controlled goods as well as verifying import, export, re-export, transit and end use of controlled goods. It ensures South Africa meets all obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and reports accordingly to the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons). The Council annually submits a report on its functions with the report tabled in Parliament by the DTIC Minister.
In terms of the Armaments Corporation of South Africa Limited Act, Armscor provides a compliance administration system for the DTIC as required by applicable international law, and the National Conventional Arms Control and the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction acts. As part of its mandate, Armscor “duly declares all activities involved for defensive research purposes”.
“These declarations,” the Ministerial response has it, “ensure total transparency in accordance with the provisions of relevant legislation”.
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