JOHANNESBURG, July 21 -- A South African judicial commission Friday criticized the country's former government and arms agency Armscor for dismal control over the international sale of weapons and called for a review of arms trade policy and the introduction of control mechanisms. '(Evidence presents) a conclusive and dismal picture of irresponsibility at policy, operational and organizational levels on the part of the previous Cabinet, the defense and foreign policy committee and Armscor,' the Cameron Commission said in its 135-page report. 'The commission views this institutional disregard in a far more serious light than negligence or misconduct on the part of individual Armscor employees,' the commission added. The Cameron Commission also recommended that Armscor's former marketing manager, Marius Vermaak, be charged with theft and fraud and that two of his superiors, Anthony Savides and Peet Smith, be sacked for negligence. All three men resigned from Armscor ahead of the publication of the report, although Smith, the company's former chief arms trader, continues to work as a consultant for the corporation. South African President Nelson Mandela appointed judge Edwin Cameron last October to investigate all Armscor's weapons deals since February 1990, after it was discovered that Armscor had tried in 1994 to sell arms on the black market to Yemen, which, at that time, was in the throes of civil war. The commission discovered that other Armscor shipments had gone to secret destinations, that there was a systematic disregard for where arms exports ended up, and non-existent controls over huge sums of money.
Cameron said punitive action against Armscor was not sufficient and there should be a comprehensive review of South Africa's arms trade policy as well as the establishment of control mechanisms. Mandela, whose government has already insisted that all weapons sales be sanctioned at Cabinet level, has submitted the commission's report to his Cabinet for consideration.
