South Africa the Continuous Failing Defense Industry

South Africa is no exception and any democracy can only survive if it has a well-established and effective military force and the failing industry is a real threat to stability. The South African National Defense Force,(SANDF) is a small percentage of the USA Defense Force but with three times the amount of generals. A definite case of more chiefs than Indians!

Before the 1994, transition to democracy the SANDF was always a personal piggy bank. From the times when the Daphne submarines were built by Chantier Naval Atlantique from France when Portugal, South Africa and Pakistan were to be the cornerstone clients. This was all scuppered with the United Nations embargo against South Africa in respect of weapons.

It was most amusing to observe the silence from the side of the National Party (NP) during the time of the Arms deal Transaction disclosures. It was alleged that the spokesperson for the NP on Defense had his family involved in executing contracts for the military. He was apparently extremely sensitive to the fact that nay criticism handled by him would be construed as being negative by the African National Congress (ANC) Government and could lead to the cancellation of these contacts for his family!
In the New Generation Arms Management (NGAM) saga re the missing Dillon Mini-gun and other weapons, all the allegations raised by Vanessa Du Toit from the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) are proven as false. Even in her own affidavits and documents, which she attached, proved her nasty slander. It is clear that it was her intention to malign Erasmus and NGAM. Erasmus had laid criminal charges against her as well as all the other persons so implicated. Erasmus is known as a no nonsense operator with a record of accomplishment remarkably few can match. He had pointed out how that the journalists had gone out of their way to slander him, especially journalists such as Erica Gibson from News 24 – an ex Military Intelligence Officer and Jacques Pauw, a vindictive person working for an Intelligence Operative by the name of George Darmanovitch who lives Johannesburg.
For the South African Special Forces (SASF), despite numerous attempts at sabotage from and Armscor and SASF, he and his black partners delivered. However, there is still a serious issue at play until today as Armscor still owes NGAM a substantial amount, and they are continuing to defer this payment now for a period of two years. It would seem as if Erasmus and NGAM are being punished for delivering despite all the odds and sabotage they had to endure.
When Armscor and SASF could not succeed in destroying this company, they linked them to the Boeremag, a fictitious organisation created by the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) own Crime Intelligence division (CI). Erasmus views this as a weighty insult and is pursuing this issue as the originators of this nonsense is nothing else but low life criminals in his views. This issue will be addressed in a further article as to the threat against democracy as to the lack of the SAPS fulfilling their mandate. This is not the only debacle, the SASF management and Armscor had given to The SA Revenue Service (SARS) a totally fabricated story about false income Erasmus and NGAM had received. SARS dutifully raised a incorrect assessment and claimed funds from NGAM and Erasmus. Money that was never received and therefore the claim is not justified. In this regard, SARS is relying on draconian tax legislation. Erasmus is not taking this lying down and has lodged criminal charges against all these parties including SARS on behalf of himself, NGAM and his partners.
The SANDF is a hot spot of considerable corruption. Erasmus is intensely pragmatic about it and said that one cannot be a Don Quichote in charging windmills but one have to deal with reality and tack one’s sails against the wind.
Relating to this incident, Erasmus referred to a company called Unionlet, a British registered arms company, operating out of Dubai. This company also holds the FN representation from Belgium, (Fabrique Nationale who manufactures high quality weapons). While South Africa was the largest user of such FN rifles is most curious! In conversations with the Office for Serious Economic Offences (OSEO) based in United Kingdom about the supply of weaponry by Unionlet to SASF at nearly double the going prices, it was surprising to note that the OSEO was extremely reluctant to delve into this company. The question was asked as to whether this company was either a front for the British MI6 or just working closely. (MI6 = the British Foreign Intelligence Service also known as the Secret Service). No answer was forthcoming. In the book, The Shadow World, by Andrew Feinstein about the Arms Trade, there is a great deal about the role of OSEO and their investigations into British companies in the defense industry.
In the South Africa, Act 41 of 2002 regulates the Defense Industry. Through this Act, various origins of the State must regulate the industry. The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) and the Directorate Conventional Arms Control (DCAC) are part of this structure.
The NCACC is a Cabinet committee chaired by Minister Jeff Radebe, Minister of Justice and an alleged an opponent to President Jacob Zuma with smoldering presidential aspirations. Dumisane Dladla, a relatively young man who sits in a Chief Director’s position in the Department of Defense, is running the DCAC. The DCAC falls under Secretary of Defense. There is considerable frustration in the industry as permits are delayed; and companies find themselves not being able to deliver timorously of foreign contracts.
During December 2013, a company was required to export Armored Personnel Carriers (APC’s) to an African customer by air. Their permits were delayed for almost the better part of a year. In December, their permits came through, and they had to meet with Vanessa Du Toit at the NCACC in this regard. Allegedly, the meeting was to take place on a Friday. The company’s representative arrived punctually for the meeting with Du Toit whence he was informed that she had gone to fetch her brand new government subsidized vehicle. The personal delay by employees of NCACC while the planes were on standby at a local airport, an expensive exercise. The company approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on an urgent basis, and they were granted an order whereby the NCACC was compelled to provide the relevant export permits. This was done on a Saturday with the goods flying the Sunday.
Pretoria Metal Pressings (PMP) is a Division of Denel (The state owned armaments manufacturing company). PMP’s CEO is Phaladi Phetje, and its Business Development Manage is Victor Khasapane. Tony Neophyto, a brilliant weapons designer, developed a rifle called the Neopup. The Neopup is a shotgun on steroids as it fires six rounds in 20x42 mm. This calibre was specifically developed by PMP based upon Neophyto’s design. Fats Lazarides, owner of the Ocean Basket chain of restaurants, bedeviled the marketing of the weapon. Lazarides is the culprit in this scheme that went bankrupt. Apparently, Phetje is a five percent shareholder in the company Neopup (Pty) Ltd, despite him earning a salary from the state at PMP. There was also an agreement between Phetje on behalf of PMP that Neopup would garner a commission on all ammunition sales from PMP in this regard. However, due to Lazarides, as a fish and chips man, underestimating the costs of such a venture, the venture grounded to a halt due to his refusal to pump more money into it. Meanwhile, PMP had sold three of these weapons to the USA. They were now stuck with an order and no manufacturer. In this regard, they approached engineering firms in and around Pretoria to manufacture these weapons. However admirable the engineering firms are they apparently are not accredited with the NCACC. The same NCACC whose Vanessa Du Toit raised false affidavits against NGAM and Erasmus.
PMP was also mentioned in the First Consult (a company delving into the arms abuse in South Africa) report into irregularities in 2005. In this article NGAM and NGA, the company of Ivan Monsieur who was assassinated in 2009, they complained about the export of seventy million rounds of redundant ammunition to Industriepark Spreewerk Lubben Germany. There were substantial irregularities in this contract, and the then Minister of Defense, Terror Lekota’s name was mentioned. Lekota was always a Thabo Mbeki ally and is currently the leader of one of the struggling opposition parties, The Congress of the People (COPE).
Smuts Ngonyama is also a member of this party. He is known as one whilst still part of the ANC (The Ruling Party) when he garnered R 120 million income out of the Telkom privatization, he stated, “I did not join the struggle to become poor.”
In the First Consult report, the issue was that it was a reputed government-to-government contract between Jordan and the RSA. The question is as to whether the Cabinet at the time even knew about it! Yet, another government-to-government contract has now become known. This time between the RSA and Senegal.
The main player in this issue is Francis Brand from OSPREA (Pty) Ltd. In this regard, OSPREA is to be involved in supplying the Senegalese with some 28 Rooikat (Lynx) Tank killers.
The Rooikat is a superb vehicle except that it suffers from a lack of support due to its advanced electronics. It is also fitted with a 76 mm gun where the round fired, travels at a rate of 1 600 per second. With a tracer, one can see the round over a 2000m distance, as a blink – that is how fast it is! Oto Melara from Italy as a naval gun originally built the gun. The gun cannot shoot straight, in this regard; Denel compiled a report around 2003 for Armscor into the problem and on how to solve it. Until today, Armscor had shelved this report. The function of this gun from its design was never to shoot straight, and it was to be used on the sea in an anti-aircraft role.
OSPREA has now managed to sell this Rooikat via an alleged government-to-government contract to the Senegalese who clearly have no clue as to what they are in for!
The sordid saga continues, whenever and wherever there is a connection with the SANDF, there is always something unexpected. As a Defense Force, the SANDF is a disgrace to all South Africans, except perhaps for those few who are retiring as billionaires (on a state salary). The South African Defense companies continue to fail the democracy of the country.

By Laura Oneale
OP-ED