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

MR VALLY: Yes, but you were Managing Director, would it then have come through you?

DR MIJBURGH: Not necessarily.

MR VALLY: Did people give direct instructions to people employed at Delta-G from the military?

DR MIJBURGH: Clients did from time to time work with some of the researchers, yes.

MR VALLY: And as Managing Director would you know?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes, most of the time I would have found out about it.

MR VALLY: Let's understand when you talk about clients, you were a military front company and 95% of the work in the early period was military work.

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: The reason I'm asking this question is, were you aware of a gas attack allegedly using BZ on Mozambican troops?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: There have been a number of code names that were used for chemicals produced at Delta-G, I was wondering if you could possibly help us.  First of all we know Mosrefcat: M-O-S-R-E-F-C-A-T was a code name for methaqualone and mandrax.

DR MIJBURGH: It was for methaqualone.

MR VALLY: You are aware of that?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: And Baxil for MDMA?

DR MIJBURGH: Correct.

MR VALLY: What we call ecstasy.  There are certain code names such as FP/003 which is referred to in certain documents, TRC61, 75 and 78 but would you, before we look at these documents, recognise such a code if I say FP/003?

DR MIJBURGH: FP/003 was CR.

MR VALLY: And FP/00T52?

DR MIJBURGH: No, I do not know which one that was.

MR VALLY: And FP/00B50?

DR MIJBURGH: I do not know specifically what that is.

MR VALLY: FP/00/MO1?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes, Mosrefcat, that was methaqualone.

MR VALLY: Okay, so we have two code names for methaqualone.  And FP/00/B51?

DR MIJBURGH: No, I do not know what that is.

MR VALLY: Can you tell us how many military front companies or the names of the military front companies where you were a Director?

DR MIJBURGH: Only of Delta-G.

MR VALLY: Do you have TRC14 with you?  I think you attorney would have it, I'm not sure it was in your list.

MR VAN ZYL: Could Mr Vally just identify the document then we can know if we have it.

DR MIJBURGH: TRC14?

MR VALLY: 14.

DR MIJBURGH: No, it's not one of the documents on my list.  I did not receive that.

MR VALLY: Mr van Zyl, in your bundle, I'm sure you do have it.

MR VAN ZYL: If you can just please identify the heading or something.

MR VALLY: Oh, I beg your pardon.  It's TRC14, it's dated the 25th of March 1992, it's on the Defence Force letterhead.  It says
"Intelligence Division"

MR VAN ZYL: Advocate Arendse has made the first page available to us.  It's once again a document which was not given to the witness.  I would like to ask him to ask his questions about this document after lunch so that my client can have the opportunity to peruse it.  It's quite a thick document and we only have the first page.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Vally, anything to say to that?

MR VALLY: There is a very simple question.  If my learned friend needs to consult with his client on that I will accept it but maybe if I ask the question then he can make that decision.

MR VAN ZYL: If we could just get a complete copy of the document then he can ask the question and the witness can answer.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Vally, go ahead.

MR VALLY: If you look at the second page of that document, the heading is
"Project Jotta"
do you see that?  On the left it says:
"Medchem Beheer Organisasie"
My question is, it appears to us that it seemed to be a military front company under Project Jotta.  Do you still maintain that Medchem was not a military front company?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: Is it correctly sighted in this diagram on the second page of that document?

DR MIJBURGH: There is a relationship between Medchem and Delta-G Scientific, exactly what it means I do not know but yes, Delta-G was a subsidiary of Medchem.

MR VALLY: Well, maybe we can answer this question after lunch when you read the whole document but our understanding is that this document deals with front companies formed under Project Jotta and that Medchem was one of them.

DR MIJBURGH: I never regarded it as a military front organisation.  The Defence Force never had any say in its budget or the spending of its money.  It did conclude contracts for the Defence Force but it had no say in the management.

MR VALLY: Can you explain one thing to me, I'm quite curious about how you as a medical doctor shortly after your graduation get involved with Delta-G and from there you are a director of a large number of other companies?  I say of a large number, we know of at least three thus far.  Of your own initiative, did you create all these companies?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: Of your own capital?

DR MIJBURGH: Mr Vally, some of the companies I bought an interest in, some of them I established myself such as Medchem Technologies and Medchem Pharmaceuticals which was established with a specific objective and that was to market pharmaceuticals and to sell them.

MR VALLY: You see, can you tell us of other front companies that you are a director of, front companies, only Delta-G?

DR MIJBURGH: I was not a director of any other front company.

MR VALLY: There are a number of questions I need to ask but there are certain documents I need to give you so maybe I'll ask the Chair for an early lunch and we can return from lunch early if possible, but you have a list of all the companies I've given you.  I need to know from you which ones you were linked with.  I also need to know why is it that you specifically were involved in certain companies which seemed to be dealing almost exclusively, and I'm talking about Medchem Technologies, Medchem Pharmaceuticals, exclusively with the military?  Is there a reason for that?

DR MIJBURGH: Medchem Pharmaceuticals did not only deal with the Defence Force nor Medchem Technologies.

MR VALLY: Are you saying their dealings were not primarily with the Defence Force?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Are you saying most of their business was outside the Defence Force?

DR MIJBURGH: No, it was not.  Medchem Pharmaceuticals still exist today.

MR VALLY: Yes, no, my question was, were most of their dealings with the Defence Force, most of their contracts?

DR MIJBURGH: No.  At a specific moment in time, possibly.

MR VALLY: At the time that they were created?  At the time they were established?

DR MIJBURGH: No, I do not think so.

MR VALLY: As a medical doctor and knowing the abuse of for example mandrax in this country, did you ever raise your concerns that you were manufacturing mandrax, methaqualone on such a large scale, with anyone?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: You were not concerned about it?

DR MIJBURGH: No, because I did not think that was what it was being used for.

MR VALLY: I ask you this question because it's relevant to this issue but apparently General Magnus Malan is your uncle?

DR MIJBURGH: That's correct.

MR VALLY: Did you ever raise any concerns about the work that you were doing at Delta-G with him?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Was he aware of what you were doing?

DR MIJBURGH: I do not know.

MR VALLY: Did you meet him socially?

DR MIJBURGH: Very seldom, yes.

MR VALLY: Was Delta-G the only company you were involved in which was formally privatised?

DR MIJBURGH: Front company, yes.

MR VALLY: Were other companies privatised?

DR MIJBURGH: I was not involved in other companies which were privatised.

MR VALLY: Only Delta-G?

DR MIJBURGH: Yes.

MR VALLY: When you were part of Delta-G and it was privatised, did you make a big profit?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: Did you make any money at all?

DR MIJBURGH: No.

MR VALLY: You made nothing?

DR MIJBURGH: Correct.

MR VALLY: You heard Doctor Swanepoel saying he made quite a few million rands out of the, that did not happen at Delta-G?

DR MIJBURGH: No.