• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Business

South Africa seeks to unlock stalled arms sales to Saudi, UAE

9 February 2020, 7:55 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
A Denel company logo is seen at the entrance of their business divisions in Pretoria, South Africa.

A Denel company logo is seen at the entrance of their business divisions in Pretoria, South Africa.

Image: Reuters (File Image)

A Denel company logo is seen at the entrance of their business divisions in Pretoria, South Africa.

South Africa aims to free up billions in stalled weapons sales, including to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, by amending a document at the heart of an export row, a senior arms control official told Reuters.

Local defense firms have lobbied the government for months to change a clause in the export document requiring foreign customers to allow South African officials to inspect their facilities to verify that weapons aren’t being transferred to third parties.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE buy at least a third of South Africa’s arms exports and have been engaged in a war in Yemen. They refused to agree to the inspections because they considered them a violation of their sovereignty, industry officials told Reuters in November.

“I can confirm that the amendment of the end-user certificate was approved by the NCACC recently,” Ezra Jele, the head of the secretariat of South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), told Reuters.

A draft letter from Jele to a defense industry association obtained by Reuters and authenticated by two industry sources said the NCACC planned to replace a clause allowing for “on-site verification … performed by an inspector designated by the (defense) minister.”

The new clause would state “on-site verification of the controlled items may be performed, through diplomatic process”.

Defense sources said the changes were aimed at assuaging the concerns of importing nations that objected to the original wording, in the hope that exports could resume.

Before it takes effect, the amendment must be published in the government gazette. But the letter stated that permission was being sought from the defense minister for companies to use the new language in the interim.

Jele declined to comment on the letter, as did the head of the industry association to whom it was addressed.

South Africa has sought to reform its defense industry – once a pillar of the racist apartheid regime – by making export approvals subject to human rights considerations.

It has long included a clause in its end-user certificates requiring on-site inspections, though it was rarely acted upon. But in 2017, arms control officials moved the clause to the front page of the certificates, and countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Algeria refused to sign them.

Exports to the Gulf and North Africa are a key source of revenue for local defense companies including state-owned Denel, Paramount Group and Rheinmetall Denel Munition, a joint venture between Denel and German industrial giant Rheinmetall (RHMG.DE).

Defense firms threatened hundreds of job cuts if the wording of the clause wasn’t changed to resolve the row.

Graphic: here

Share article
Tags: South AfricaSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab Emirates
Previous Post

South Africa to take over reins of the AU on Sunday

Next Post

Suspects to appear in court following drug bust at OR Tambo Airport

Related Posts

The logo of MTN is pictured in Abuja, Nigeria, September 11, 2018.

Naledi Pandor calls MTN, Ghana to resolve $773 mln tax dispute

28 January 2023, 3:29 PM
Workers disgruntled over low wages and changes to terms and conditions of employment, go on strike outside a Massmart Holdings owned Makro store in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 19, 2021.

Contingency plans in place at Makro stores amid wage strike

28 January 2023, 11:42 AM
[File photo] A worker harvests grapes at the Domaine Pinson vineyard in Chablis, France, September 21, 2021.

Grape farmers face more challenges amid rolling blackouts

28 January 2023, 8:21 AM
Eskom says stage 4 will be implemented in the evenings from 16:00pm until 05:00am over the weekend.

Eskom loadshedding at stage 3

27 January 2023, 11:05 PM
Electricity pylons are seen along the cooling tower of the defunct Orlando Power Station in Soweto.

More South Africans join calls for national state of disaster to address electricity crisis

27 January 2023, 9:01 PM
The union members will picket outside Makro stores across the country for ten days.

SACCAWU workers down tools at Makro stores nationwide

27 January 2023, 3:17 PM
Next Post
National police spokesperson Vish Naidoo says all the suspects will be charged with possession of drugs related charges...

Suspects to appear in court following drug bust at OR Tambo Airport

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Scorcher predicted in Northern Cape for two weeks
  • Residents shut down Komani over power woes
  • ANC slams DA’s march to Luthuli House
  • No registration fee will be charged to NSFAS-funded students: Nzimande
  • Limpopo man arrested after discovery of his wife’s body in water-filled pit toilet
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Premier denies claims that KZN government spent millions on Mampintsha’s funeral
  • Limpopo man arrested after discovery of his wife’s body in water-filled pit toilet
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • Mahlengi Bhengu replaces Pule Mabe as ANC chief spokesperson
  • EFF cuts ties with IFP in KwaZulu-Natal
  • Malema calls on South Africans to reject Just Energy Transition

LATEST

Jacob Zuma
  • South Africa

Decision on Judge Koen on recusal matter in case involving Zuma to be heard on Monday


Models present creations at the Gucci Fall/Winter 2023/2024 menswear show in Milan, Italy January 13, 2023.
  • Lifestyle

Gucci names De Sarno as creative director with the task of reviving the brand


People carry a banner reading " We are also teaching fighting" as school workers demonstrate for better salaries and working conditions, in Lisbon, Portugal January 28, 2023.
  • South Africa

Tens of thousands of teachers march in Lisbon to demand better pay and conditions


The Lebombo Border Post between South Africa and Mozambique.
  • South Africa

Stolen cars recovered near Mozambican border


South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor shakes hands with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of their bilateral meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, January 23, 2023.
  • Politics

DA slams SA government for defending the military exercise with Russia


Crew members signal to a F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet preparing to take off for a routine flight on board the U.S. USS Nimitz aircraft carrier during a routine deployment to the South China Sea, Mid-Sea, January 27, 2023.
  • World

US four-star general warns of war with China in 2025


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous South Africa to take over reins of the AU on Sunday
Next Suspects to appear in court following drug bust at OR Tambo Airport