Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
02 JULY 1998
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's special public hearings into South Africa's chemical and biological warfare (CBW) programme resume in Cape Town next week.
The two-day hearing from 7 to July 8 will hear testimony from the former Surgeon General Dr Niel Knobel and Dr Philip Mijburg, former Managing Director of Delta G Scientific - a front company set up by the former South African Defence Force (SADF).
The special hearings which began last month have explored, among others;
The institutional arrangements that gave rise to the former government's CBW programme The front companies that were established to support the programme Individual human rights violations that resulted from the programme The involvement of the SADF in experimentation on humans and animals The financial implications for the state and
A key witness Dr Wouter Basson, whom several witnesses have described as the mastermind of the programme has not testified arguing that might prejudice his pending court trial. His lawyer later told the Commission that they would file an urgent application in the High Court to set aside the Commission's ruling that he should testify.
The panel, which will be chaired by the Head of the Investigative Unit, Mr Dumisa Ntsebeza, is expected to make its decision on the issue next week.
Media inquiries : Vuyani Green on 021-245 161 or Phila Ngqumba on 0824588463