Military History of South Africa - South Africa and Weapons of Mass Destruction

South Africa and Weapons of Mass Destruction

During the 1980s, South Africa pursued research into nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Six crude nuclear weapons were assembled. With the anticipated changeover to a majority-elected government in the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons, the only nation in the world to date which voluntarily gave up nuclear arms it had developed itself. The country has been a signatory of the Biological Weapons Convention since 1975, the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1995, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty since 1991.

The Vela Incident (sometimes known as the South Atlantic Flash) was the possible detection of a nuclear weapon test. This detection was made by a United States Vela satellite on 22 September 1979. Much of the information about the event is still classified. The Vela 6911 satellite apparently detected the characteristic double flash of an atmospheric nuclear explosion (first a very fast and very bright flash, and then a less bright and longer-lasting flash) of some two to three kilotons at 47°S 40°E / 47°S 40°E / -47; 40 (Vela Incident) near to the Prince Edward Islands, a South African dependency lying in the Indian Ocean. The technical evidence is however inconclusive.

If the detection was a nuclear explosion, and not a natural phenomenon or malfunction, the two primary suspects for the sources of an unexplained nuclear blast were Israel and South Africa, both of which had covert nuclear weapons programs at the time. A test by either Israel or South Africa would have been very awkward for the Carter administration. Israel was a close American ally, while the South African relationship was close but unpopular due to apartheid. Carter had worked hard on nonproliferation issues, and a vigorous response would have been required if it had been proven that either nation had conducted the test. This would have disrupted the negotiations underway over the Camp David Accords.

If a nuclear explosion did occur, it is uncertain who triggered it. There are difficulties with both the South African and Israeli hypotheses.

South Africa did have a nuclear weapons program at the time, and the geographic location of the tests points to their involvement. However, since the fall of apartheid, South Africa has disclosed most of the information on its nuclear weapons program, and according to the subsequent International Atomic Energy Agency report, South Africa did not have the capability to construct such a device until November 1979, two months after the incident. American signals intelligence detected unusual security measures at South Africa's Walvis Bay facility the week before the event, which led to suspicions that the putative test was staged from there.. However these were most likely merely due to military exercises which were being carried out at that time.

Israel did have nuclear weapons in 1979, but it is questioned whether they had the capability to mount a covert test thousands of kilometers away. If it had been an Israeli test, it would almost certainly have been conducted with South African assistance and cooperation.