‘Secrecy breeds corruption’
WHILE articles and letters in the media after the death of Margaret Thatcher have given good coverage to the views of her supporters and detractors, there has been little if any mention of the arms scandals which dogged her government – especially the “arms-to-Iraq” affair which saw British-linked weapons being used against the country’s own soldiers during the Gulf War.
In his book In the Public Interest, Gerald James, chairman in the 1980s of Astra Holdings PLC, a leading arms manufacturer, provides chilling detail of the covert arms trade, including to both Iran and Iraq, during Thatcher’s tenure. Of interest to South Africans is what James says about her government’s stance on sanctions against the apartheid regime, and Thatcher’s extremely close relationship to a South Africanlinked arms “consultant” known as Stephanus Kock.
James argues that it was a reliance on chrome and other strategic minerals that ruled out trade sanctions during the Cold War era. Despite the UN arms embargo, the then stateowned entity Armscor played a pivotal role in the arms trade.
Central to all the sanctionsbusting which was taking place – and to covert arms deals all over the world – was Kock. James acquired much information about Kock who, he claims, had been deliberately placed in Astra as part of a take-over cabal.
Reputedly of East European birth, Kock was officially described as having emigrated to the then Rhodesia in his teens.
However, he was also referred to as an Afrikaner. He was close to the Rhodesian government in the 1960s and played a pivotal role in sanc- tions-busting activities there. Kock was known to have access to Thatcher at any time of the day, including during her evening “slipper time” relaxation period.
Coincidentally, Thatcher’s resignation came amid an alleged cover-up of the aborted “Supergun” project involving Iraq (Project Babylon).
Gerald Bull, who was the brains behind this project, was murdered.
Allegations of whitewash continued, with much of the report of the Scott Commission, appointed by Prime Minister John Major, suppressed by the government.
In the Public Interest is a depressing reminder of the power of arms cartels, and the difficulty of exposing their nefarious activities, even in a well-established democracy.
As the finishing touches are being put to the Protection of State Information Act, South Africans should take James’s warning very seriously: “Secrecy (he writes) breeds corruption, secrecy is power, information is power, particularly confidential information.” MARY DE HAAS
Durban