Solidarity Wants SA Government To Drop Arms Export Inspection Requirement

Riyaz Patel

The Solidarity trade union wants government to drop a requirement that buyers of South African arms agree to inspections, a measure that is holding up shipments to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The requirement is contained as a clause in an export document known as an end-user certificate in which foreign arms buyers must pledge not to transfer weapons to third parties.

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been engaged in a deadly war in Yemen which has seen more than 100,000 killed, according to figures by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).

Since democratic rule dawned in 1994, Pretoria has sought to reform its defence industry – once a pillar of the racist apartheid regime – by making export approvals subject to human rights considerations.