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Executive Committee:

Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Quaker Peace Centre

The Coalition for Defence Alternatives is a forum of individuals and non-governmental

1. Introduction: The Coalition for Defence Alternatives and its Interest in this Legislation.

Chairperson:

Thank you for your invitation to the Coalition for Defence Alternatives make an oral submission regarding export procedures under the Firearms Control Bill. May I introduce my colleagues -- Jeremy Routledge of the Quaker Peace Centre, Douglas Tilton of the South African Council of Churches Parliamentary Office and Felicity Harrison of the Catholic Parliamentary Office? I am Terry Crawford-Browne of Economists Allied for Arms Reduction.

The Coalition for Defence Alternatives was established during Defence Review held here in Parliament as an affiliation of NGOs and individuals. In terms of "defence alternatives," we believe that in the 21^st century matters of human security relating to people must hold priority over traditional notions of military security relating to states. The South African Constitution in referring to security services under Chapter 11 indisputably concurs with this view when it declares in its statement of governing principles that:

National security must reflect the resolve of South Africans, as individuals and as a nation, to live as equals, to live in peace and harmony; to be free from fear and want and to seek a better life.

In light of our shared beliefs, members of the Coalition are especially concerned with Chapter 8 of the Firearms Control Bill. More specifically, we wish to comment on the provisions governing arms exports. We submit that the South African government should ban all arms exports, acknowledge that the domestic arms industry presents irreconcilable moral and economic problems, and should work vigorously to convert resources squandered in arms production to peaceful, developmental uses.

We invite this committee to join with us in pursuit of these objectives. As an interim, first step, we ask you to amend Chapter 8 to ensure that all export permits require the approval of the body responsible for assessing the security and human rights impact of South African arms exports. Whilst we are critical of the past performance of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee we recommend, as an interim measure, the immediate establishment of an independent committee to monitor and make the workings of the NCACC into an effective watchdog over exports of firearms and ammunition.

A society free from fear of violence and crime. Unfortunately that does not yet describe South Africa, for this country and its people are still held to ransom by a culture of violence. The culture of violence is exemplified by the proliferation of firearms, and disregard for the rights of others. As South Africans, we have a constitutional right to life.

By extension, we are entitled to assume that our lives will not be imperiled by the proliferation of firearms and/or lax implementation by the state of firearm control legislation. The Coalition supports the intent of this legislation drastically to limit the ownership of firearms.

The late Oliver Tambo described Armscor as "a frankenstein monster which cannot be reformed, and must be destroyed." His description remains valid today. No industry so illustrates the depravity of the apartheid era as South Africa's armaments industry. The evidence at the trial of Dr Wouter Basson and at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission confirms that this is an industry-out-of-control, and one without any ethical or moral scruples.

How, may I ask Chairperson, would you face a mother in Angola, in Algeria, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Pakistan, in Rwanda, in former Yugoslavia, in Colombia or in South Africa? How would you tell her that the South African-made firearm or shell or bullet that killed her child provided someone with a job?

Human rights in South Africa are indivisible from human rights in Angola, the DRC, Mozambique or Rwanda. The Coalition calls for a total prohibition on exports of firearms and ammunition to be enacted into this legislation.

Had Tambo been heeded, one of the government's first decisions in 1994 would surely have been the closure of Armscor and Denel. Instead, Armscor trumpeted literally the day after the United Nations arms embargo was rescinded in May 1994 that it intended to treble exports of South African armaments in order to "create jobs and earn foreign exchange."

2. Rationale for Prohibition on Exports of Firearms and Ammunition

The number of weapons in Mozambique has been estimated at as many as 10 million for a population of 15 million people. The number of AK-47s was at one time estimated at one and a half million. Many of those -- we do not know how many -- were imported into South Africa by Armscor from China North Industries (Norinco) for distribution to Renamo as part of the apartheid government's destabilisation campaign.

The United Nations report published in October 1989 entitled "Apartheid Terrorism" estimated the consequences of destabilisation of neighbouring countries during 1980-88 as

1. the deaths of up to one and a half million people,
2. four million refugees,
3. economic damage estimated at US$65 billion,
4. the deaths of 100 000 elephants and rhinos whose tusks and horns were sold to compensate South Africa for weapons supplied to Renamo and Unita.

No less than General Constand Viljoen has admitted that Armscor and its military associates controlled South Africa's economic resources during the 1980s. Ironically, they also bankrupted the country, and thus made possible South Africa's relatively peaceful transition to democracy. Indeed, it has been said that apartheid might have lasted another 50 years except that the securocrats bankrupted South Africa. Professor Sampie Terreblanche estimates that armaments and military expenditure during 1977 to 1994 incurred to defend apartheid cost South Africa about R130 billion.

We in South Africa now reap the bitter consequences. This region is awash with weapons.

Armscor was caught selling weapons to Rwanda in 1993 immediately before the genocide which cost between 800 000 and one million lives. President PW Botha's aide, Ters Ehlers, was named by Human Rights Watch as one of the suppliers of weapons to the Hutu militias in Goma, Zaire. Human Rights Watch wrote to President Mandela in June 1995 offering to testify about the supplies of weapons, but its letter and subsequent enquiries were ignored. No action has been taken against Ehlers or numerous other alleged gun-runners.

In August 1994 Armscor was caught selling 8 596 AK-47s and 15 665 G3 assault weapons to Yemen, a country which had been torn apart by civil war. The AK-47s had originally been imported from China, a country with which Armscor had a very close relationship during the apartheid era. It still does and maintains an office in Beijing.

The resulting political scandals and shame so soon after South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994 led to the appointment of the Cameron Commission of Inquiry into Armscor. The Commission was scathing in its findings about the mismanagement and corruption at Armscor.

Armscor had been split in 1992 into Armscor and Denel. Armscor continues as the procurement agency for the Department of Defence. Denel, which took over the manufacturing activities, is wholly-owned by the Department of Public Enterprises. They are both state-owned organisations, supposedly accountable to Parliament and the electorate.

The Anglican Church and others made representations to the Cameron Commission calling for a total prohibition on exports of armaments from South Africa, and for the disbandment of Armscor and Denel. The armaments industry, we said then, was an apartheid-era legacy which should have no place in democratic South Africa committed to human rights.

The Cameron Commission report declared that while it had sympathy for the Anglican Church standpoint, it accepted the assurances of President Mandela's government that South Africa would pursue a "responsible arms trade policy."

With hindsight, the Anglican Church has been proved completely right, and both President Mandela and the Cameron Commission to have been naive. There can be no such thing as a "responsible arms trade policy," that is the killing of people for profit. It is grotesque, indeed barbaric.

A few faces have changed at Armscor, but an interview published by Leadership Magazine in June this year confirms that the apartheid-era corporate culture at Armscor remains intact. Sipho Thomo is the newly-appointed chief executive officer. He declares quote:

Mr Thomo seems to think that he is just selling soap-suds.

1. The National Conventional Arms Control Committee

The major recommendation of the Cameron Commission was that Parliament should have oversight over arms exports, with a minimum of 30 days notice before shipment. This recommendation was sidelined by establishment in August 1995 of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, which is chaired by Minister Kadar Asmal.

Given their commitments to human rights and peace, the NCACC guidelines and rationale are as good as can be found anywhere in the world. In practice however, the implementation of the NCACC principles has proved appallingly lax and completely inadequate. Minister Kader Asmal pleads that the government cannot be blamed for corruption in the Customs service or the porous state of South Africa's airports. This is an extraordinary admission. Just what is the role and function of government?

The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other international organisations have complained repeatedly about supplies of South African weapons to areas in conflict. South African weapons have been reported to have been supplied to all sides involved in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad, acknowledged in Parliament in September 1999 -- ten years after the United Nations' "Apartheid Terrorism" report -- that South Africans were still involved in supplying arms to Unita in Angola in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

There are numerous reports of South African involvement in the conflict diamond trade and the other problems in Sierra Leone. Just how many gun-totting children in Sierra Leone have been supplied with South African-made or South African-supplied weapons? We don't know. We do know however, that the government cannot control illicit export of weapons from South Africa.

Consequently, we call upon the government to implement repeated calls by the Anglican Church for a total prohibition on exports of armaments from South Africa and for the conversion of government-owned organisations such as Armscor and Denel to peaceful purposes.

In addition to illicit supplies of weapons through South Africa's airports, there is cause for major concern about the exports of armaments which have the NCACC's approval. Of 83 countries to which South Africa acknowledges having sold arms and military equipment between 1996 and 1999, 57 countries do not comply with the NCACC's own criteria because they experience human rights violations or are involved in internal or external conflicts. Four examples are Algeria, Colombia, India and Pakistan.

Algeria has suffered a protracted civil war, the death toll since 1992 being estimated at up to 100 000 people. Hundreds of Algerians have been extra-judicially executed. Thousands of civilians have been killed as a consequence of targeted attacks as well as indiscriminate bombings carried out by military forces.

Under no circumstances can Algeria be considered to meet criteria one, six or seven of the NCACC guidelines and rationale, yet Minister Kader Asmal told Parliament in March 1998 that "Algeria has a democratically-elected internationally-recognised government and that weapons sold to Algeria would only be used for external self-defence." (Cape Times, March 19, 1998)

In 1998 South Africa exported armaments to Algeria worth R85 million. In 1999 Algeria became South Africa's largest export market, with sales of R290 million, reportedly including large quantities of small arms.

Colombia is another tragic country which has experienced massive abuses of human rights over several decades. About 1.5 million Colombians have been displaced by political violence in their country since 1985. Yet South African exports of armaments to Colombia during 1996-1999 were reported by the NCACC as totalling R161 million.

Of these exports, 76 percent were classified as Category A, being "major significant equipment such as explosives, large calibre arms that could cause severe casualties and/or major damage and destruction."

India and Pakistan have been involved in several wars since they became independent in 1947, and both countries have developed nuclear weapons in defiance of international opinion. Despite this and criterion three of the NCACC, South Africa continues aggressively to market its arms exports to the region. Denel (with the Minister of Defence's active marketing support) hopes to conclude a contract with India of R8 billion for G6 artillery.

India was by far the largest export market for South African armaments in 1997, the sales being almost entirely artillery shells which were used by India against Pakistan during the 1999 war. The NCACC reported South African exports of armaments to India during 1996-1999 as R831 million, of which 96 percent were classified as Category A. Exports to Pakistan during the period totalled R139 million, of which 83 percent were classified as Category A.

Not only are South African exports to India and Pakistan aggravating the conflicts between these two countries, but a further repercussion in South Africa is the effect upon our own Hindu and Muslim communities.

Military goods and services have no economic value, but they do have very considerable economic cost. Weapons do not grow food or build housing. They make no contribution to material standards of living.

To the contrary, military expenditures divert labour and other economically productive resources away from socio-economic priorities. To this must be added the loss of human life, destruction of property and economic activity because of the chaos and disruption which results when weapons are put to the violent purpose for which they are designed. For the weak economies of Africa and most of the developing world including India and Pakistan, the economic burden of military expenditure is unbearable.

Foreign sales of armaments amount to less than one percent of South Africa's total exports. Yet the destruction caused in Africa and to South Africa's standing in the international community is immeasurable. As President Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo questions, how can South Africa mediate diplomatically in the conflicts in the DRC when South African weapons have been supplied to all sides?

Denel, very far from being profitable, suffers massive financial losses. During its 1997/98 financial year Denel reported losses of R882 million. Denel's annual report for 1998/99 still has not been presented to Parliament in violation of all auditing standards. In February 2000 the acting CEO refused to reveal the organisation's financial situation to the Parliament Committee on Public Enterprises.

The former Minister of Public Enterprises had previously in March 1999 even prohibited Denel's directors from briefing Parliamentary committees, claiming then that discussions of privatisation were too sensitive. Let me disabuse you, Chairperson, of the public belief that killing people is an economically viable business.

The widespread assumption is that while the armaments industry may be dirty, it is a lucrative business that creates jobs. That assumption needs to be challenged and discredited. The armaments industry is capital, not labour intensive. It is an exceptionally poor creator of jobs. It is also a high skill industry, and thus aggravates South Africa's shortage of skilled labour. It does virtually nothing for unskilled, unemployed labour, except to drain financial resources which could be better used for social upliftment.

Denel employs approximately 12 000 people, mainly educated and skilled people who would have no difficulty in finding employment in other, less repugnant occupations.

Divide Denel's losses in 1997/98 of R882 million by 12 000. You will learn that each job at Denel is subsidised by South African taxpayers by R73 500 per annum.

Add to that the lost opportunity costs of more than R4 billion of public assets tied up in Denel. Add also the marketing costs of the Minister of Defence and other government ministers of marketing Denel in Saudi Arabia, India, Algeria and other countries. The annual taxpayer subsidy per job at Denel works out at over R125 000 per job.

Tell that to the people in squatter townships or in the rural slums. More than half of South Africans survive on less than R3 500 per year. But our government seemingly has R125 000 per job to give away to subsidise the men at Denel. Tell that to hospitals and health care workers, who operate with budgets cut to shreds by the costs of treating bullet wounds.

South Africa for the past 25 years has been one of the world's economic disaster stories. A major reason has been the economic resources squandered on Armscor and Denel. The armaments industry, quite simply, is not profitable or economically viable. Even in the United States, arms exports depend upon massive tax subsidies amounting to 63 percent of export sales. Surely we South African taxpayers have much more pressing public priorities than to provide "protected employment" to people whose only purpose is to manufacture weapons to kill our own citizens and the citizens of other countries?

People do not ordinarily relish the idea of killing other people. Nor do they relish the risks of being killed or of being seriously wounded by bullets. Yet that is exactly what the gun culture is all about. We are told that guns are merely insurance for safety and security. One branch of government, Denel, is causing indescribable misery throughout South Africa and beyond, of lives lost and ruined. Why?

The Deputy Minister of Defence told the Portfolio Committee on Defence in March this year that the main security threats in Southern Africa are poverty, HIV/Aids and guns. This committee has heard testimony about the consequences of the proliferation of firearms within South Africa.

The Firearms Control Bill originally referred to the NCACC as the monitoring authority for exports, but this provision was subsequently removed. It should be reinstated. Despite this Coalition's criticisms of the NCACC, its rationale and guidelines are excellent. The NCACC's failure is that it has not applied or enforced its own principles.

In his address to the ANC council in Port Elizabeth, President Mbeki referred to the corruption which permeates the country. No other industry anywhere in the world, and most especially in South Africa, is as corrupt as the armaments industry. This apartheid-era industry is not an asset to South Africa, but a massive and disgraceful liability.

There can be no such thing as a "responsible arms trade policy" as the failures of the NCACC have proved. Weapons merchants have no compunction about forged and fraudulent documentation. End-user certificates for exports are not worth the paper that they are written on. Accordingly, the only option in terms of the Firearms and Ammunition Control Bill is to require and enforce a total prohibition on South African exports of small arms and ammunition. This includes ammunition for small arms as well as larger calibre shells for artillery which Denel is exporting to India and elsewhere.

In response to pressure from NGOs and other representatives of civil society, our South African government reversed its initial stance on anti-personnel landmines. Our neighbours in Angola and Mozambique continue to pay an appalling price in human lives and economic misery because of the destabilisation policies of the apartheid government, including the use of landmines.

President Mbeki holds a vision of an African Renaissance. The Coalition for Defence Alternatives believes that peace is Africa's social and economic first pre-requisite. Exports of the instruments of war from South Africa make a mockery of any hope of an African Renaissance.

Thankfully and to its credit, South Africa became one of the prime movers towards adoption of the Ottawa Treaty. The same needs to be the case in terms of firearms and ammunition, which cause such havoc especially in "third world" countries. We need to get South Africa out of this dirty business, and to lead by example.

The Deputy Minister of Defence last November announced that an independent monitoring committee would shortly be established to apply the principles of the NCACC. It is now August, and we have heard nothing further.

Pending the total prohibition of exports of firearms and ammunition, we call for the urgent establishment of that monitoring committee to control the issuance of export permits. Most importantly, that committee must be directed by representatives of civil society rather than by the armaments industry or government. The committee's activities must be transparent and open to public scrutiny. We offer our services to such a committee.

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