Propellant licence for Botha’s apartheid regime

Goods category: War materiel

Racial segregation sign on Muizenberg beach, Cape Town, June 1985.

In 1979, the Federal Powder Factory in Wimmis transferred a production licence for propellant powder for 20 mm and 35 mm ammunition to Somchem through Oerlikon-Bührle. It trained South African engineers in Wimmis and supported production with specialist personnel on site. On 5 November 1963, the Federal Council had rejected the transfer to South Africa of a Wimmis licence for powder to manufacture 30 mm and 35 mm anti-aircraft ammunition.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. The Federal Council could add South Africa to Annex 2 by amending the War Materiel Ordinance. This would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases. Article 18 paragraph 1 would abolish non-re-export declarations in the vast majority of cases. Weapons for South Africa could thus easily be supplied through a subsidiary or intermediary in a third country. The Netherlands could serve as a third country, having, according to SIPRI, supplied substantial quantities of war materiel to South Africa in recent years (90 million TIV).

Countries

South Africa

Conflicts

Apartheid in South Africa (1948–1994)

Companies

Time period

Refusal in 1963; licence transfer in 1979; accompanying technical assistance

Sources

Peter Hug, 2005: Mit der Apartheidregierung gegen den Kommunismus. Zusammenfassung der Studie im NFP 42+, insbesondere S. 4, 7–8, 10 und 12
Der Bund, 28.10.2005, S. 2: Enge Bande zum Apartheidstaat; Schweizer Hilfe im Atombombenprogramm; Geschäft vor Menschenrechte (Stefan Schmid)