South Africa must place an immediate arms embargo on Rwanda

The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that Jeff Radebe, Chairperson of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), must stop all conventional arms sales to Rwanda.

The United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo recently published a report that found evidence of arms embargo and sanctions regime violations by Rwanda.

The report found violations by Rwanda included the provision of material and financial support to armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in contravention of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1807 (2008).

The arms embargo and sanctions regime violations related principally to an armed group called M23 which is reportedly responsible for the worst outbreak of violence in several years in the DRC.

Specifically, arms embargo and sanctions regime violations by Rwanda were found to include the "provision of weapons and ammunition to M23" as well as "direct Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) interventions into Congolese territory to reinforce M23".

The fact that Rwanda has been found to be providing weapons and ammunition to M23 should be of concern because South Africa exported more than R100 million worth of conventional arms to Rwanda.

We do not know what types of conventional arms were exported to Rwanda. But we do know what categories of conventional arms were exported to Rwanda.

South Africa exported R103.4 million worth of conventional arms to Rwanda between 2003 and 2012 including:

• R72.6 million worth of "Category A" conventional arms which are defined as "sensitive conventional implements of war that could cause heavy personnel casualties and major damage or destruction"; and
• R23.6 million worth of "Category C" conventional arms which are defined as "support equipment usually employed in the direct support of combat operations that have no inherent capability to kill or destruct".

Moreover, between 1996 and 2006 at least 38 Armoured Personnel Carriers were exported to Rwanda.

The last reported consignment of conventional arms exported from South Africa to Rwanda took place in early 2012 and comprised of R2.4 million worth of "Category C" conventional arms.

The United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo report did not find any evidence that conventional weapons, exported from South Africa, found their way to M23 or were being used by the RDF to support M23.

However, we cannot be sure that conventional weapons, exported from South Africa, have not found their way to M23 or are not being used by the RDF to support M23. 

Moreover, we cannot be sure that conventional weapons, exported from South Africa, may not find their way to M23 or may not be used by the RDF to support M23 in the future.

The Rwandan government has contested the findings in the report of the United Nations Group of Experts. However, the findings of the report have been taken very seriously by the international community and have had major repercussions for Rwanda. The United States, for example, immediately froze US$200 000 of military aid to Rwanda.

We cannot take the risk that conventional arms, exported from South Africa, may be used by M23 or the RDF to destabilize the DRC.

I will, therefore, write to NCACC chairperson Jeff Radebe requesting that: 

• All conventional arms sales from South Africa to Rwanda be stopped immediately;
• All conventional arms, from countries other than South Africa, which may be transported through South Africa , be stopped immediately; and
• That the NCACC's inspectorate conducts an investigation in order to verify whether the conditions of the export permits and/or end-user certificates of conventional arms sold by South Africa have been complied with by Rwanda.

Conventional arms exports from South African to Rwanda 
2003 - 2012

Table 1: Conventional Arms Exports from South Africa to Rwanda between 2003 and 2012

Source: NCACC Annual/Quarterly Reports between 2003 and 2012

Table 2: Definitions of categories of conventional arms used in NCACC annual reports between 2003 and 2012 

Source: NCACC briefing to Joint Standing Committee on Defence on 15 March 2012

Statement issued by David Maynier MP, DA Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, August 2 2012

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