National Commitee for arms control fails to disclose arms

UNCLAS CAPE TOWN 000196

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF

SUBJECT: National Commitee for arms control fails to disclose arms
deals.


1. (SBU) On September 2, Poloff attended the Defence and Military
Veterans committee meeting in Parliament where Minister of Justice
and Constitutional Development, Jeff Radebe, briefed the committee
on the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC). This
was originally supposed to be a closed meeting and was opening to
the public at the last minute after pressure on the Committee chair
from the Democratic Alliance (DA). This is the first time in three
years that the Committee has reported its activities openly in
Parliament. The current NCACC was appointed on July 21, 2009 and
Radebe said 12.6 billion rand of contracts have been approved since
July. Radebe also said a detailed report of these contracts will be
forthcoming. Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa and Minister of
National Intelligence Dr. Siyabanga Cwele were also present in the
meeting. Note. Not only is it unusual for one Minister to be
present and brief a Committee in Parliament, it is very unusual for
three Ministers to be present. End note.


2. (U) Background note: The NCACC is comprised of eight Ministers
and three Deputy Ministers, chaired by Minister Radebe. The
National Conventional Arms Control Act, of 2002, amended in 2008,
regulates conventional arms trade in South Africa. Generally, the
Act prohibits SA from selling arms to governments that violate and
suppress human rights and fundamental freedoms. SA is prohibited
from selling arms "likely to contribute to the escalation of
regional military conflicts, endanger destabilizing military
capabilities into a region or otherwise contribute to regional
instability or that may be used for purposes other than the
legitimate defence and security needs of the government of the
country of import." End background note.


3. (SBU) Radebe briefed the committee as a result of DA MP David
Maynier's allegations that South Africa is selling arms to rogue
nations. In a press conference earlier last month, Maynier named
possible weapons transactions involving countries with dubious human
rights records, such as Libya, Syria, Venezuela, and North Korea.
He also alleged pending arms deals of ammunition with Zimbabwe.
During the course of the meeting in Parliament, Maynier noted that
most of his allegations of dodgy deals happened before Radebe's
tenure as Chair of the NCACC and Maynier congratulated Radebe on his
refusal to export flight suits to Iran. Although Radebe did confirm
some deals in 2008 to Sudan, Libya and Venezuela, among others, he
refused to answer questions from Maynier about specific deals that
may be pending with Syria and Zimbabwe and several other countries.
Radebe refused to answer detailed questions from Maynier because he
was only asked to report on how the NCACC operates and was not
requested to provide information on every arms deal currently
pending before the NCACC. Two members of the committee noted that
it was inappropriate for Maynier to ask Radebe about specific
countries he considers to be human rights violators because then it
would become a shouting match with all MPs giving their views about
which countries they believe to be violators of human rights, and
both specifically mentioned their belief that the U.S. would fall
into this category. Radebe ended by saying the NCACC would provide
further details in either its quarterly or annual report.


4. (SBU) Comment. Many ANC MPs on the Defence committee believe
Maynier was out of line when he released this information
publically. Nyamni Booi, Chair of the Defense and Military Veterans
Qpublically. Nyamni Booi, Chair of the Defense and Military Veterans
Committee, told Poloff that the ANC has hired a lawyer to
investigate if Maynier is criminally liable for his actions. Because
the NCACC is comprised of eight Ministers and three Deputy
Ministers, who are all senior members of the ruling party, the ANC
members of the Defense and Military Veterans committee are fiercely
loyal to the members of the NCACC and are likely to support whatever
stance the NCACC takes in direct supposition to their parliamentary
mandate of oversight. End comment.