Special Hearings — Chemical And Biological Warfare Hearings — 1998-06-12

DANIEL PETER KNOBEL: Thank you Mr Chairman.
"Since the beginning of the TRC investigation into the past activities of the South African Medical Service of the South African Defence Force in general, and Project Coast of the SADF, SANDF in particular, I have tried in every possible way to cooperate fully with all the investigators and commissioners.  The result of my co-operation is embodied in briefings, answers to questions, interviews and documents that have been made available to the TRC.
 During the same period I have also been utilised as a State witness for the Office of Serious Economic Offences in their separate but parallel investigation of Project Coast and the role of Dr Basson in it with respect to possible financial abuses of funds allocated to the project.  
 I have also been consulted on a number of occasions by the Office of the Attorney-General with regard to its investigations of certain allegations and charges levelled at Dr Basson.
 Again the above investigations have led to correspondence, evidence and affidavits by myself and others related to the CBW programme.
 In the third place I have also been very closely associated with the National Intelligence Agency since September '94 in trying to unravel many of the outstanding issues with regard to Dr Basson and the Chemical and Biological Warfare programme, and contributed much to the document known as Project Cloud which was made available to the TRC during October last year.
 Finally I have also been acting as an advisor to the Department of Foreign Affairs with regard to the applicable conventions since 1989, as well as to the non-proliferation Council within the Department of Trade and Industry since 1993, with regard to all aspects emanating from the Republic of South Africa's position as a State part to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention.
 Since 1997 I am an appointed member of the non-proliferation Council with the responsibility to Chair meetings of two advisory committees of the non-proliferation Council, namely the Chemical Weapons Working Committee, and the Biological Weapons Working Committee, which deals with all aspects of the implementation of the two conventions.
 In addition to all the above functions I have had to brief and advise, from time to time, all the relevant Ministers as well as President de Klerk and President Mandela, personally, on certain issues, and have also been instructed to brief the Parliamentary Committees on Public Accounts, Defence and Health affairs with respect to the CBW programme.
 In the evidence I shall give today I shall be referring to many of the above activities and to documents that have a bearing on the programme, and where such reference to activities and documents will pose a threat to the Republic of South Africa's international relations and/or obligations in terms of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction I will point this out to the best of my ability, but with the understanding that I cannot be held responsible for any information that does lead to proliferation or a threat to the Republic of South Africa's international relations if it becomes available to the media through my testimony.
 I would now like also to request that my briefing to the TRC on the 21st of January 1997 be read into the record.
 I further request that I may freely make use of and refer to the Project Cloud report of the National Intelligence Agency.  And with respect to other documents I would like to underline the following.
 Firstly Project Coast documents.  All documents at co-ordinating management control level and those generated in the South African National Defence Force or Defence headquarters or South African Medical Service headquarters level that I am familiar with I will deal with as completely as possible putting them into perspective with political and CMC decisions that had been taken at the time.
 In this regard I will put supplementary documentation made available to the TRC last Friday on the table, and will refer throughout to briefings given to the CMC, to the Ministers, to the State Presidents and to the TRC as well as to the contents of the Project Cloud report of the National Intelligence Agency.
 With regard to other documents that I call the Internal Research and Development documents, these documents in question are, as far as I can determine, internal research and development documents of Delta-G and Roodeplaat Research Laboratories.  None of these documents were ever made visible at the level of the Co-ordinating Management Committee or those working groups of which I was a member.  I therefore did not see them before 1997.  
 In assessing the contents of such a document the following must be borne in mind:-  
 Authority from the Co-ordinating Management Committee for any research or development in the project was given with regards to the broad fields and areas of research.  This authority was based on guidelines and approvals that were given at political level.  The authorisation was then converted into measurable broad objectives with budgetary allocations of funds which again had to be approved by the Minister for each financial year.  The detail of all scientific work within the approved objectives was then planned and co-ordinated by the Technical Work Group under the Chairmanship of Dr Basson personally.
 It must be further borne in mind whereas initial research and development within the front companies was confined to the achievement of project goals research and development conducted in the period after my appointment as Surgeon-General included projects which were not necessarily CBW related, but rather commercial ventures which could generate income for the company and in particular prepare the company for the process of privatisation and commercialisation.
 Furthermore scientists were also allowed to carry out scientific research in areas in which they had a special interest and which would enable them to remain visible in the scientific world both nationally and internationally.  
 In the assessment of these documents I shall try to distinguish between these different categories of documents and indicate to the best of my ability where, in my opinion, the subject matter falls.  
 Where necessary I will refer to the initial assessment made by Colonel Ben Steyn and myself of all the documents found in the trunks at the request of National Intelligence Agency as contained in the Project Cloud report of October '97, as well as to my assessment of the same documents at the request of the court in its proceedings following the Times Media application to have access to all documents in July '97.
Thank you Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Vally.

MR VALLY: Thank you Mr Chair.  Do you wish to add anything else before I start questioning you General Knobel?

DANIEL PETER KNOBEL: Well I have made two requests Mr Chairman.  The first was to read in the TRC briefing of '97, to have that placed on record and to read it into the record.

MR VALLY: Do we have a copy of that?

DANIEL PETER KNOBEL: Yes ...(intervention)

MR VALLY: I assume it's a briefing to us so we should have a copy of that.

DANIEL PETER KNOBEL: Yes of course Mr Chairman.

MR VALLY: Well let me just check with my colleague.  And what is the second request while we are at it?

DANIEL PETER KNOBEL: Then the request was that I refer freely to the Project Cloud document.  And I have said already it would probably be confined to pages 32 to 100.

MR VALLY: We would need to show that briefing to Mr Arendse as well, but let me get a copy of that briefing first.