South Africa
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of South Africa signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 26 June 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. South Africa is a past producer and exporter of antipersonnel mines. It stopped production in 1995 and prohibited export in 1996. In May 1996, it suspended the use of antipersonnel mines. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically was promulgated on 5 December 2003. On 4 May 2011, South Africa submitted its 12th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.
South Africa completed destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines in October 1998. It initially retained 5,000 antipersonnel mines; this number was reduced to 4,355 by the end of 2010.[1]
South Africa served as co-rapporteur and later co-chair of the Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention from 1999–2000 and 2003–2005.
South Africa attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November–December 2010 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
South Africa is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines but not Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
South Africa has no mined areas.[2] It has been working with Zimbabwe and Mozambique to ensure that clearing of the Great Limpopo Trans Frontier Park, which is shared by the three countries, begins promptly.[3]
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of South Africa signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
In April 2014, a South African representative said the government is working to complete ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2015.[1] In October 2013, South Africa stated that the convention “has been sent to Parliament for ratification.”[2] According to a government press release, at a Cabinet meeting held on 4 September 2013 the “Cabinet approved that the Convention of Cluster Munitions be sent to Parliament for ratification” and “supports the destruction of cluster munitions stocks.” The Cabinet concluded that “ratification of the Convention is in line with South Africa’s commitments to upholding human rights and humanitarian law when engaging in war fare.”[3]
South Africa has provided regular updates on its slow progress towards ratification of the convention.[4]
It is unclear if South Africa will adopt domestic implementation legislation to enforce implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[5]
South Africa participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and its policy evolved to support a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions.[6] It hosted a regional meeting on cluster munitions in Pretoria in March 2010 and has continued to actively engage in the work of the convention.
South Africa has participated in every Meeting of States Parties to the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013.[7] South Africa has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings held in Geneva, including in April 2014. It participated in regional meetings of the convention in Ghana in 2012 and Togo in 2013.
South Africa first condemned Syria’s use of cluster munitions in May 2013, when it stated that “we deplore any use of cluster munitions by any State including the alleged recent use of cluster munitions in Syria, which has led to a number of casualties including women and children.”[8] In September 2013, South Africa told States Parties that “we need to continue to stigmatise the use of cluster munitions as weapons of war” and expressed concern at “the alleged use of cluster munitions in recent conflicts since this Convention entered into force.”[9] In October 2013, South Africa again urged all states to “condemn any use of cluster munitions.”[10] In April 2014, South Africa said that “as a former producer,” it views cluster munitions as “obsolete” weapons.[11]
South Africa has yet to provide its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and retention of cluster munitions and submunitions for training and development purposes.
South Africa is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, and transfer
In 2005, the Department of Foreign Affairs stated, “The South African Defence Force has manufactured and used submunitions in the past, which have been phased out, and is in the process of developing newer generations of submunitions.”[12]
South African company Denel produced artillery cluster munitions and air-dropped cluster bombs in the past, including the CB-470 aerial cluster bomb containing 40 Alpha submunitions, believed to be produced for export purposes only. Iraq is reported to have bought the CB-470 in the late 1980s.[13] Deminers in Zambia and Mozambique have encountered Alpha unexploded submunitions.[14]
No information is publicly available on South Africa’s past use of cluster munitions.
Stockpiling and destruction
South Africa has not yet revealed the precise size and composition of its current stockpile.[15] It is thought to stockpile the M2001 155mm artillery projectile, produced by Denel, which contains 42 dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions with self-destruct devices.[16] South Africa has acknowledged possessing a type of aerial cluster bomb called TIEKIE, which was degraded for training use only.[17]
South Africa has stated that it “has a relatively small stockpile of obsolete cluster munitions that have already been earmarked for destruction.”[18] In July 2011, a government official informed the Monitor that the Department of Defence has started to prepare a plan to destroy the cluster munition stockpile, including the timeframe and method for destruction as well as estimated financial cost.[19]
Retention
In April 2011, a government official indicated that South Africa would likely retain “a relatively small stockpile” of cluster munitions for training purposes, but the official clarified that only inert cluster munition casings would be retained and not the explosive content.[20]
[1] CMC meeting with Phakamisa Siyothula, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Directorate of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation in Pretoria, in Geneva, 9 April 2014.
[2] Statement of South Africa, UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 30 October 2014.
[3] Republic of South Africa government press release, “Statement on the Cabinet meeting of 4 September,” 5 September 2013.
[4] See, for example: statement of South Africa, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, September 2013; statement of South Africa, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, September 2012; statement of South Africa, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012.
[5] In 2009, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that existing legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty would likely serve as the “principal guideline” when South Africa prepares national legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act 2003 prohibits South African forces from assisting a state not party to the Mine Ban Treaty with any activity prohibited under the treaty and includes “transit” under its definition of transfers. Letter from Xolisa Mabhongo, Chief Director, UN (Political), Department of Foreign Affairs, 12 March 2009.
[6] For details on South Africa’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 153–156.
[7] Statement of South Africa, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.
[8] Statement of South Africa, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013.
[9] Statement of South Africa, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.
[10] Statement of South Africa, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 30 October 2014.
[11] Statement of South Africa, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Geneva, 16 April 2014.
[12] Communication from the South African Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament to Pax Christi Netherlands, 19 January 2005.
[13] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 440.
[14] Email from Dr. Robert E. Mtonga, Coordinator, Zambian Campaign to Ban Landmines, 10 February 2009. It is unclear what type of cluster munition was used to deliver the submunitions, who used them, or when, but the Alpha submunition is most often associated with the South African CB-470 cluster bomb. Statement of Mozambique, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011. Jane’s Information Group reports that the Alpha bomblet developed for the South African CB-470 cluster bomb was produced by Rhodesia (the predecessor of Zimbabwe), and that “Zimbabwe may have quantities of the Alpha bomblet.” Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 440.
[15] In 2005, South Africa asserted that “details of reliability and functioning of the current generations of submunitions in the South African arsenal are classified, suffice to say that reliability for submunitions to function as intended is currently better than 98% and at a confidence level of better than 95%.” Communication from the South African Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament to Pax Christi Netherlands, 19 January 2005.
[16] Denel, “Land Systems, Artillery Systems, 155 mm Towed/SP Gun-Howitzer,” undated; and Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), p. 665. In 2005, South Africa stated that “in the 155mm product line, a back-up self-destruct pyrotechnical feature is incorporated into the fuze which separates the detonation train from the main charge.” Communication from the South African Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament to Pax Christi Netherlands, 19 January 2005.
[17] Communication from the South African Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament to Pax Christi Netherlands, 19 January 2005.
[18] Statement of South Africa, UN Thematic Debate on Conventional Weapons, New York, 18 October 2010. In December 2008, South Africa also said that a “relatively small stockpile of outdated cluster munitions” had been “earmarked for destruction.” See statement by Charles Nqakula, Minister of Defence, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 3 December 2008.
[19] Telephone interview with Col. Corrie Fierrara, Department of Defence, 20 July 2011.
[20] Interview with Col. Nigel Aspey, Department of Defence, Pretoria, 7 April 2011.