Johannesburg - The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) has come under fire for selling weapons worth millions of rand to repressive regimes in Equatorial Guinea, Turkmenistan and Russia, among others.
The DA said that despite the law governing the NCACC prohibiting the sale of weapons to such regimes, the committee had gone against the piece of legislation.
The DA’s criticism came after the NCACC, chaired by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, tabled its annual report in Parliament on Tuesday.
His chief of staff, Lungisile Phakathi, could not be reached for comment.
The report has been referred to the select committee on security and justice.
The committee is expected to start dealing with the report at its next meeting in the next two to three weeks.
DA MP David Maynier said he was surprised at the manner in which the government continued to sell weapons to rogue states.
“It’s clear that the loopholes in the legislation regulating conventional arms exports is going to have to be plugged to prevent South Africa becoming the armourer of choice for some of the world’s worst dictators,” Maynier said.
“The preamble to legislation regulating conventional arms exports states that we will not trade in conventional arms with states engaged in repression, aggression or terrorism.
“However, the NCACC continues to authorise exports of conventional arms to some of the worst dictatorships in the world, including Equatorial Guinea, Turkmenistan and Russia.”
Russia has been accused of helping rebels in Ukraine, which have been trying to overthrow the government there.
European states and human rights bodies have accused President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in power since he overthrew his uncle in 1979, of various rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch said last year that Turkmenistan was one of the most brutal regimes in the world. It said President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ruled his country with fear. He has been in power since 2006.
Among the other countries that have bought weapons from South Africa are Iraq, which has been battling insurgents for the past 10 years, and Azerbaijan, which was at war with its neighbour Armenia.
The release of the annual report by the NCACC came on the day President Jacob Zuma announced the extension of the mandate of South African soldiers across the continent.
South Africa has been sending peace missions in African countries over the past 16 years.
The Star