By Troye Lund
South African Airways could be in for about R2-billion in claims should a new investigation into the 1987 Helderberg crash prove to have been a cover-up.
Aside from the R350-million that insurance company Lloyd's of London paid SAA, the 159 families who lost relatives are also expected to institute claims.
Calls to have the inquiry into the disaster re-opened have been prompted by new evidence, which alleges that the aircraft was carrying a nuclear bomb and that the initial R2-million Judge Cecil Margo investigation was a cover-up.
According to what is claimed to be a transcript of a technologically enhanced voice-cockpit recording of the Helderberg, Captain Dawie Uys told his crew "Boy George" (possibly a code name for a nuclear bomb) was on board.
Lloyds of London was not available for comment and SAA said all new evidence had to be passed on to the Civil Aviation Authority.
While the aviation authority has expressed reservations about the authenticity of the tape, Dr David Klatzow, a leading forensic expert who has been investigating the Helderberg tragedy for Boeing for more than a decade, has dismissed as the new evidence as "unreliable".
But Klatzow is adamant the inquiry must be re-opened and that it should not be conducted by the aviation authority without being overseen, because it conducted the first inquiry into the crash.
"The investigation by the aviation authority points either to stunning incompetence or a cover-up of Olympian proportions," he said.
He had estimated that claims from families and from Lloyd's could be about R2-billion if SAA was found liable.
"Without these new tapes, which have not been verified and which should be taken with a huge dose of scepticism, there is more than enough evidence to re-open the investigation.
"That plane was carrying ammonia perchloride, a compound used to make rocket fuel," said Klatzow.
He called on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to release the transcripts of a closed session where former SAA and Armscor officials were cross-examined by him.
Truth Commission chief executive officer Martin Coetzee said the evidence would remain confidential until a formal request had been made for the evidence to be made public.
"Once such a request has been made, the commission will evaluate the situation and make a decision," said Coetzee.
With a view to re-opening the case, Transport Minister Dullah Omar has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to verify as soon as possible whether new information emerging around the Helderberg crash is "authentic and accurate".