
South Africa
Country Spotlight
From the 1940s-1990s, South Africa’s apartheid government engaged in research and development of weapons of mass destruction. In 1989, however, its decision to end the nuclear program made South Africa the only country to achieve a nuclear weapon capability and voluntarily relinquish it. In 1993, it also ended its biological, chemical, and missile programs.
See South Africa's performance in
Region Sub-Saharan Africa
1982 Armscor builds South Africa’s first operational nuclear weapon
6 Total number of nuclear warheads built by South Africa
1993 Officially end of all WMD programs
Nuclear
- Built six gun-type nuclear weapons during the 1980's
- Dismantled nuclear weapons program in 1989 and joined the NPT in 1991 as a non-nuclear weapon state
- Champion of nonproliferation and disarmament in the post-apartheid era, led efforts to establish the Treaty of Pelindaba and the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE)

Cold War Lessons for Contemporary U.S.-Russian Nonproliferation Cooperation: The South African Case
Biological
- Developed biological weapons during 1980's under Project Coast, which was dismantled in 1993
- Utilized anthrax and botulinum toxin to target perceived enemies of the apartheid regime
- Party to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) since 1975
South Africa Biological Overview

Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
Missile
- 1989 test launch revealed South Africa's ballistic missile program, developed with help from Israel
- Ended missile and space launch programs in 1993 in response to sanctions and international scrutiny
- Member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC)
South Africa Missile Overview
Nuclear Disarmament South Africa
Chemical
- Developed chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin gas, and BZ, under Project Coast (dismantled in 1993)
- Believed to have used chemical agents against perceived enemies of the state
- Member of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) since 1995
South Africa Chemical Overview

Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
- NTI
- CNS
Analysis
South Africa
Nuclear Disarmament South Africa
Information and analysis of nuclear weapons disarmament proposals and progress in South Africa

Overview of the Nuclear Disarmament Resource Collection
South Africa Biological Overview

Education Center