Special Hearings — Chemical And Biological Warfare Hearings — 1998-07-07

DR MIJBURGH: No that was a company which I established in co-operation with a lady and we went into ladies clothing. Not very successfully I might add. There was a certain ladies clothing boutique operating from this.

MR VALLY: Strange name for Medchem but let's go on. You see let's just talk about Maison de Medchem for a minute. Some of your friends from the CBW programme were involved there. There is a Johannes Koekemoer there?

DR MIJBURGH: Maison de Medchem?

MR VALLY: Yes.

DR MIJBURGH: Not as far as I can recall. Unless we used the company as a shelf company at a later stage but this was a boutique.

MR VALLY: Well Jan Lourens is mentioned as a director?

DR MIJBURGH: Mr Vally I think this company - you see when the boutique business was disbanded the company actually was not disbanded. And I think that is the company which had a name change and it became Ecotox if I remember correctly but I stand to be corrected.

MR VALLY: So a lot of the people here; Jan Lourens, Johannes Koekemoer, your name, Philip Mijburgh people who come from the Delta-G or RRL basically people involved in the CBW programme?

DR MIJBURGH: I don't know that there were any Roodeplaat people involved.

MR VALLY: Well are you saying only Delta-G people were involved?

DR MIJBURGH: In Ecotox specifically Delta-G and Protechnic people were involved.

MR VALLY: They were involved?

DR MIJBURGH: Delta-G and Protechnic yes.

MR VALLY: I see. Alright so it wasn't simply a boutique selling women's clothes any longer?

DR MIJBURGH: I think the company was used for other purposes later.

MR VALLY: Tell us what?

DR MIJBURGH: To house or accommodate Ecotox.

MR VALLY: I see. Medchem Consolidated Investments?

DR MIJBURGH: It was the holding company. In other words the chief or main company which had shares in most of these other companies Delta-G amongst others Medchem Technologies, Medchem Pharmaceuticals. So it was the holding company.

MR VALLY: Alright. We have heard about Medchem Pharmaceuticals. You had some contracts from the defence force. Is that correct?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: Medchem Sports International?

DR MIJBURGH: Medchem Sports International was a company which bought property at the Fancourt Golf development.

MR VALLY: Was it before it went bankrupt?

DR MIJBURGH: I think so yes.

MR VALLY: Any contracts with defence force?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Midrand Consolidated Investments?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Protechnic we know about. It did have contracts with the defence force. Is that correct?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: And that is my list. Now these are the companies that we have gone through which specifically you were a director of and in the case of one or two of them a shareholder of separately. Why is it that you are a director of a large, relatively large number of companies most of whom who have contracts with the defence force? Can you explain how that came about?

DR MIJBURGH: I obtained shares in some of these companies. Some of them had already had contracts with the defence force at that stage.

MR VALLY: Yes but how did you come to their attention? How did they come to your attention? I mean were you directed towards them? Did you just research them? Is it out of the blue that you decided to?

DR MIJBURGH: Most of the people who worked in these companies were known to me. Mr Jan Lourens I have known since school days for instance in the Protechnic case. Lifestyle Management their people I knew from my defence force days.

MR VALLY: Because I put it to you that whether you called it front companies or private companies these were all companies which were closely linked with and closely associated in some form or the other with the defence force.

DR MIJBURGH: Some of them yes.

MR VALLY: And that you were a more active player in the whole subterfuge the front companies, the facades in the projects of the defence force than you are making out.

DR MIJBURGH: I can't agree with you. The only front company according to my definition in this group of companies was Delta-G Scientific.

MR VALLY: Yet these other companies had contracts with the defence force?

DR MIJBURGH: Correct.

MR VALLY: That they were engaged in activities which was private in a sense that you wouldn't want it to be disclosed to the public, some of them.

DR MIJBURGH: I think that was common knowledge that they had defence force contracts. Delta-G's connection with the defence force wasn't common knowledge but Lifestyle Management and Protechnic's connections were quite openly known.

MR VALLY: Your involvement in these companies as a director were you involved in day to day activities at all?

DR MIJBURGH: No. It depends on what you are referring to?

MR VALLY: Well Delta-G and Medchem?

DR MIJBURGH: Medchem Consolidated Investments the holding company I was involved in the day to day management. As far as the others were concerned I was a non-executive director. Even Delta-G I was a non-executive director after 1989.

MR VALLY: Was Dr Wouter Basson involved with you in any of these companies?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Did he direct you to become a director or suggest you become a director of any of these companies?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Has he been getting any commission from you or any share-holding or any quiet keep-backs?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: You researched these companies yourself and discovered that you wanted to buy shares in them?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: How old were you when you started acquiring directorships of companies?

DR MIJBURGH: I didn't collect directorships. I made investments in certain companies and I have provided the capital myself and then I became a director where it looked like a good investment. And there was a synergy between some of these companies which made it worthwhile to be an investor.

MR VALLY: I assume you inherited a fair amount of money?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: So straight from the medical school you go into the army. From the army after a few years, 1979 you qualify as a doctor, 1985 you are asked to go to Delta-G, a military front company. From then on you start accumulating directorships in the majority of companies which have contracts with the defence force. How do you explain this?

DR MIJBURGH: I made investments in certain companies which in certain cases were worthwhile and other cases not.

MR VALLY: Where did you get all this money from? You were working for one company, a military front company.

DR MIJBURGH: Mr Vally I might remind you there was fairly active stock exchange in the early eighties. And I like many other people played the stock exchange and worked with properties. I made a couple of very good investments in terms of houses that I bought. So I did make money.

MR VALLY: So your investment came from your own speculation on the stock market?

DR MIJBURGH: I borrowed money, I speculated with property yes.

MR VALLY: I see. There are a number of vague areas which worry me. The one is this issue of as managing director of Delta-G your lack of information is staggering when you consider the security risk. I put to you a number of issues. For example you didn't know what purpose you were manufacturing Methaqualone for. All you know is you got an order from the army. That's correct?

DR MIJBURGH: The defence force indicated that they wanted to develop it as an incapacitant. That was part of the instruction which we got from the defence force.

MR VALLY: Who in the defence force gave you that instruction?

DR MIJBURGH: I can't remember who specifically.

MR VALLY: Precisely. Your military front company, big order, a 1000kg and you can't tell me who gave you the order.