the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program
the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program
the rollback of south africa's biological warfare program
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and <strong>of</strong>fensive nature <strong>of</strong> Project Coast.<br />
According to General (ret.) Meiring, <strong>the</strong> CBW <strong>program</strong> was still needed<br />
after 1990, due to problems <strong>of</strong> crowd control and <strong>the</strong> possibility that <strong>the</strong><br />
ANC/MK had CBW. 123 At <strong>the</strong> same time, once de Klerk decided to roll back<br />
Project Coast, <strong>the</strong> process was time-consuming due to <strong>the</strong> sophistication <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>program</strong>. Scientists and researchers had to be laid <strong>of</strong>f over a period <strong>of</strong> time.<br />
Also, South Africa did not want to attract attention. According to Pierre Steyn,<br />
former Secretary <strong>of</strong> Defense, ano<strong>the</strong>r major impediment to dismantlement was<br />
<strong>the</strong> bloated military that had developed throughout <strong>the</strong> 1980s. This meant that<br />
by <strong>the</strong> early 1990s <strong>the</strong> government faced a "situation <strong>of</strong> insubordination in <strong>the</strong><br />
military by 1992.” 124 In response to de Klerk’s order, intelligence procedures<br />
were restructured and personnel changes were made but police investigations<br />
were never able to flush out all <strong>the</strong> details <strong>of</strong> what was happening. Throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> military, <strong>the</strong>re was stonewalling.<br />
Proliferation and Counterproliferation<br />
At <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> 1990, <strong>the</strong> U.S., backed by Britain and Israel, issued a<br />
strongly worded “hostile nation warning” on rolling back <strong>the</strong> South African<br />
nuclear weapons <strong>program</strong>. 125 With <strong>the</strong> prospect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ANC taking power, <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S., <strong>the</strong> UK and Israel did not want to see <strong>the</strong> <strong>program</strong>’s assets or secrets<br />
being sold to adversaries in <strong>the</strong> Middle East or elsewhere. De Klerk was<br />
persuaded by <strong>the</strong> ultimatum, especially as he saw no future need for nuclear<br />
weapons. In addition, South African <strong>of</strong>ficials were being forced by <strong>the</strong> U.S. to<br />
take a stand on <strong>the</strong> Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), in time for <strong>the</strong> June 1990<br />
NPT review conference. According to Pr<strong>of</strong>. Andre Buys, 126 in early 1990, de<br />
Klerk decided to end <strong>the</strong> nuclear <strong>program</strong>. It took three years (1990-93) to<br />
dismantle. Documentation, diskettes and hard drives were destroyed. De Klerk<br />
appointed Pr<strong>of</strong>. Mouton as <strong>the</strong> auditor to supervise <strong>the</strong> disarmament process.<br />
From 1990-93, “Operation Masada” was carried out by <strong>the</strong> government and<br />
involved shredding <strong>of</strong> document and destroying <strong>of</strong> hard drives relating to <strong>the</strong><br />
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