19 Facts About Wouter Basson

Much of what Wouter Basson was working on is still secret.

Wouter Basson's job was to collect information about other countries' chemical and biological warfare capabilities under the name Project Coast.

Wouter Basson recruited about 200 researchers from around the world and received annual funds equivalent to $10 million.

In 1982, Wouter Basson is alleged to have arranged the killing of 200 SWAPO prisoners in Operation Duel.

Wouter Basson provided the Civil Cooperation Bureau with lethal chemicals to be used against prominent anti-apartheid activists.

Wouter Basson continued to travel all over the world to gather information about chemical and biological warfare programs and set up other shell and paper companies as additional front companies, possibly for money laundering.

Wouter Basson concentrated on non-lethal chemical agents and chemicals the government had not banned.

Wouter Basson was officially retired and hired to dismantle the project, and allegedly profited when some of the South African front companies were privatised.

The US and UK governments suspected that during his visits to Libya between 1993 and 1995, Wouter Basson might have sold chemical and biological weapons secrets.

In 1997, the CIA told the South African government that Wouter Basson intended to leave the country.

When Wouter Basson was arrested in a sting operation in Pretoria in 1997, he had 1000 ecstasy tablets with him.

TRC began to investigate Project Coast which led them to suspect that Wouter Basson had sold his secrets to governments of countries like Libya and Iraq.

Wouter Basson appeared before the TRC on 31 July 1998 and gave evidence for 12 hours.

Wouter Basson faced 67 charges, including drug possession, drug trafficking, fraud and embezzlement of a total of R36,000,000,229 murders and conspiracy to murder and theft.

In July 2001 Wouter Basson began to present his own evidence, speaking for 40 days.

Wouter Basson stated that he had learned about weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein, that he had indeed had free rein in the project and that he had exchanged information with foreign governments.

The defence argued that Wouter Basson should have immunity for anything that had happened in Namibia.

On 22 April 2002 Judge Hartzenberg dismissed all the remaining charges against Wouter Basson and acquitted him.

On 27 March 2019, six years after Wouter Basson was found guilty of unethical conduct by an HPCSA committee, the Gauteng High Court ruled that there was bias on the part of the committee members that presided over the disciplinary hearing.