The South African Biological Weapons Program - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 191

CHAPTER 9
The South African
Biological Weapons Program
CHANDRÉ GOULD
ALASTAIR HAY
One of the earliest public references to South Africa's in-
terest in chemical and biological weapons (CBW) was in 1989, when
SIPRI reported incidents suggesting a possible military capability in the
area. Falling short of stating that a CBW capacity actually existed, SIPRI
analyzed the South African evidence and concluded: “Although fiction
heavily outweighs the facts of the case ...inthepsychological climate
in southern Africa, reflecting a growing polarization between black and
white, there is apparently no limit as to what the South African regime is
expected to do in order to preserve white supremacy.” 1
By the time SIPRI reported, the CBW program in South Africa had
been in existence for six years. Accurate about the program, SIPRI also
identified the motivation underpinning it—anything that would prop up
the South African government of the day.
This chapter reviews what is known about the South African BW pro-
gram. It draws on original documents describing the program by those
who established it, together with evidentiary material presented both to
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and at the criminal trial
of the former director of the program, Dr. Wouter Basson, 2 as well as the
personal recollections of participating scientists. We outline when, how,
and why South Africa became interested in BW. What we have been un-
able to do is access any documents of the State Security Council (a Cabi-
net-level committee) that refer to the BW program specifically. None of
the indexes and titles of documents in the archives names the program.
Any reference to the program at the State Security Council level may,
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