Arms deal with Libya: Did South Africa export sniper rifles and ammunition to Libya in late 2010?

The Democratic Alliance (DA) understands that more than 100 sniper rifles and more than 50 000 rounds of ammunition may have been exported to Libya in late 2010.

Muammar Gaddafi has, in the words of Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations, "declared war on the Libyan people". 

The security forces have unleashed a reign of terror with more than 200 deaths being reported in Libya. They have used lethal force, firing on protesters with live ammunition. Scores have died as a result of gunshot wounds in hospitals around Libya.

On 6 August 2009, Jeff Radebe, the Chairperson of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee in the middle of the dodgy arms deal scandal, admitted that "Libya has purchased various weapons kinds from South Africa".

The weapons systems appear to have included 40 mm multiple grenade launchers,  Hercules C130 aircraft, and armoured personnel carriers.

However, in addition to this, we understand that more than 100 sniper rifles and more than 50 000 rounds of ammunition were exported to Libya in late 2010.

This raises a very serious question because there have been multiple reports that security forces used sniper rifles to fire on protesters in Libya.

The company alleged to have exported the sniper rifles and ammunition not only lists Libya as a target market in Africa, but also exhibited sniper rifles at an arms fair in Libya in 2008.

We understand that the export of the sniper rifles and ammunition was authorized by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee.

The preamble to the legislation regulating conventional arms sales states that we are:

"... a responsible member of the international community and will not trade in conventional arms with states engaged in repression, aggression or terrorism."

The fact is that conventional arms should never have been exported to Libya.

The only way to establish the true facts of what was sold, when, and to whom, is to have immediate access to the quarterly reports produced by the NCACC. The quarterly reports contain more detailed information than the annual reports, including the type, quantity and value of weapons being exported from South Africa.

However, the fact is that parliamentary oversight of conventional arms exports has effectively collapsed. The NCACC's quarterly reports have been submitted to Parliament but they have never been distributed to members of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans or the Joint Standing Committee on Defence. Moreover, the NCACC last appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans on
2 September 2009.

We have to get to the bottom of whether these sniper rifles and ammunition, or indeed any other weapons, were sold to Libya.

In the meantime, government should place a complete moratorium on the export of all conventional arms to Libya.

We cannot sit back and allow the conventional arms trade to continue to be an "accountability-free zone" in Parliament. The DA will therefore seek an urgent meeting with Max Sisulu MP, Speaker of the National Assembly, to discuss the collapse of parliamentary oversight over the conventional arms trade in South Africa.

In our view, it is imperative that Speaker takes urgent action to ensure that:

• the NCACC's annual reports are tabled in Parliament;
• the NCACC's quarterly reports are immediately distributed to members of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence; and
• that Jeff Radebe, Chairperson of the NCACC, appear before the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans as soon as possible to properly account to Parliament.

Statement issued by David Maynier MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, February 21 2011

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