Johannesburg, 3 September 2026 – The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) condemns the decision to give Wouter Basson a public platform to present Project Coast, apartheid South Africa’s chemical and biological warfare programme, in a manner that appears to celebrate his role while ignoring victims, accountability and the programme’s grave human rights legacy.
Project Coast remains one of apartheid’s darkest chapters. Publicly available accounts and TRC-related material link the programme to serious allegations in Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and elsewhere, including conduct that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity if established in appropriate proceedings. The event, scheduled for 4 September 2026 and organised by AfriForum Theatre, appears to frame Mr Basson’s role as an “accomplishment” rather than part of an unresolved record of harm.
Anneke Meerkotter, Executive Director at SALC, stated that:
“Project Coast is not a story of scientific achievement. It is part of a history marked by targeted violence, dehumanisation and the deaths of liberation movement activists. Any public account that celebrates Basson while sidelining victims risks normalising grave abuses and deepening impunity. South Africa owes those harmed truth, dignity and accountability.”
The event flyer states that courts have absolved Wouter Basson of blame. This is misleading. Allegations and evidence relating to international crimes were never fully tested in court. In light of the ongoing Khampepe Commission and recent jurisprudence confirming that apartheid-era crimes against humanity remain prosecutable, presenting Basson as free from accountability is deeply troubling.
The flyer also claims that Project Coast has been wrongly maligned and was merely defensive. Public accounts contradict that framing. Records allege that the programme moved beyond any defensive purpose and contributed to covert operations causing harm across Southern Africa, including alleged killings of SWAPO members in Namibia, testing chemical weapons on SA soldiers and opposition forces in Angola, providing chemical weapons to RENAMO rebels in Mozambique, attempted assassinations of senior ANC figures, and the poisoning of anti-apartheid activist Frank Chikane. These allegations place Basson and Project Coast within a broader pattern of cross-border violence, poisoning, attempted assassinations, and alleged international crimes.
Project Coast’s impact cannot be treated as a historical footnote. Public accounts and TRC findings describe a programme alleged to have turned medical and scientific expertise into tools of repression: poisons, lethal micro-organisms, covert devices for assassination, research into harming Black communities, and testing of substances on soldiers, communities and protesters without regard for safety or dignity. For victims, families and affected communities, the legacy remains urgent and unresolved: trauma, dehumanisation, institutional betrayal and continuing impunity. The TRC also found that the programme was marked by financial irregularities, self-enrichment and serious failures of oversight, with overall understanding, coordination and direction vested in Basson.
SALC calls on public institutions, professional bodies, public platforms and the public to reject any attempt to celebrate or rehabilitate apartheid-era perpetrators without confronting the full record of harm. South Africa’s human rights commitments demand remembrance that honours victims, resists impunity and makes clear that apartheid-era crimes must never be normalised.