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 ballistic 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 weapons built by South Africa
1993 Official end of all WMD programs
Nuclear
- Built six gun-type nuclear weapons during the 1980s
- Dismantled nuclear weapons program in 1991 and joined the NPT 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 1980s 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
Overview of the Nuclear Disarmament Resource Collection
View information and analysis of nuclear weapons disarmament proposals and progress worldwide, including detailed coverage of disarmament progress.
Nuclear Disarmament South Africa
South Africa Biological Overview
Education Center