Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase

Date: 4 Jun 1969
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase

The denial of South Africa's involvement in arms dealing with the former Rwandan Army came seven years into sanctions placed on South Africa by the United Nations. South Africa's involvement in the murky world of arms dealing began long before the UN arms and oil embargo on South Africa. According to the Human Rights Watch report of May 1995, the National Party was instrumental the destabilising some African countries through its supply of weapons. The report looks at Rwanda, and presents evidence that P. W. Botha, flew to the Seychelles on June 4, 1969 to negotiate the purchase of arms for the Rwandan army and that a consignment of military supplies was flown from South Africa to Zaire in terms of this contract.

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01RWANDA/ZAIRE,(1995), Rearming with Impunity International Support for the Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide ,[online] Available at www.hrw.org [Accessed:3 June 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012120

South African History Online (2011) 'Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012120 (Accessed: 22 August 2026).

South African History Online, Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012120, (accessed 22 August 2026).

"Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012120. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Ex Defence Minister P.W. Botha denies arms purchase." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012120.