Defence was high on the agenda during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia, where he was accompanied by defence minister Thandi Modise and an Armscor delegation.
Ramaphosa was in Saudi Arabia from 15 to 16 October, and was hosted by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud. The Presidency revealed that 17 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed between the two countries, covering everything from energy to defence.
“Having started in 2018 with a commitment by Saudi Arabia to invest 10 billion dollars into the South African economy, in many ways was planting the seed and that seed has been germinating and thus far one billion dollars has been invested in South Africa through a company called ACWA Power”, said Ramaphosa after the visit.
The Presidency added that an MoU covered “cooperation in the field of military industries and procurements.”
Armscor’s Liziwe Nkonyana, Senior Manager: Corporate Communication told defenceWeb that the MoU signed between South Africa and Saudi Arabia “is intended to establish a framework of cooperation between the two countries. It relates to the cooperation between the two countries on matters of defence and the development of their respective industries. As and when the cooperation develops, specific announcements will be made by the two countries, respectively.”
While in Saudi Arabia, Modise met with Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali. The meeting was also attended by Armscor CEO Solomzi Mbada. Local media reported the two discussing cooperation and partnership in the field of military industries, and the “next action steps between the GAMI and the Armaments Corporation of South Africa.”
Armscor chairman Phillip Dexter, in the latest Armscor annual report, wrote that this coming year “must see greater success in building partnerships and growing the commercial side of Armscor”. African and global markets are growing and Armscor “must be positioned to take advantage”. He wrote that he sees a capital injection coming thanks to agreements concluded with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Defence cooperation between South Africa and Saudi Arabia is not a new development, and there have been multiple engagements over the years. For example, in March 2016, then President Jacob Zuma visited Saudi Arabia and toured Military Industries Corporation facilities after Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) helped establish a munitions manufacturing facility. This is able to produce 60, 81 and 120 mm mortars, 105 and 155 mm artillery shells and aircraft bombs.
“The visit sought to promote South Africa’s defence military industry and strengthen areas of cooperation in the field of defence procurement partnership between South Africa and Saudi Arabia,” the Presidency said at the time.
In July 2018, then defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula met Consultant at the Secretariat General of the Cabinet Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib in Saudi Arabia – Al-Khatib was also chairman of the board of Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI).
African Defence Review Director Darren Olivier notes that GAMI and other Saudi defence companies and institutions have for decades worked with South African defence companies and research institutions to develop technologies and products, including the Saqr-1 unmanned aerial vehicle, and set up optronics research facilities. Denel division Spaceteq has supplied satellites to Saudi Arabia, such as the SaudiSat 3 and 5. Saudi Arabia even attempted to acquire a stake in Denel, but this never materialised.
Defence relations with Saudi Arabia have not all been smooth sailing, as South African firms, including Denel, have seen Saudi Arabia (and the United Arab Emirates) poach engineers and other skilled personnel, while the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) effectively blocked arms sales to the UAE and Saudi Arabia for a couple of years by introducing strict end user certificates that made provision for on-site inspections. This had been resolved by the beginning of this year, but R2 billion in defence sales to the Middle East were lost.
