IANSA is calling on the South African government to detain a ship that is carrying a consignment of Chinese small arms bound for Zimbabwe.
 
On April 14 2008, the South African government issued a conveyance permit allowing for the transport of weapons, which are reported to be 77 tonnes of small arms including AK-47s and 3 million rounds of ammunition, over South African territory to Zimbabwe.
 
This was immediately challenged by two urgent applications, one of which was brought by IANSA, the Open Society Institute and the Ceasefire Campaign. The other application came from the Council of Churches. The applications are seeking a suspension of the conveyance permit and to prohibit the offloading of the consignment and any transport of it through or over the Republic of South Africa until the decision is reviewed.

Dockworkers and drivers from the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union have also refused to unload or transport the weapons.
 
The application challenges the South African National Conventional Arms Control (2002) Committee’s decision to issue the conveyance permit on the grounds that the Act says that permits must be cancelled, amended or suspended if it is in the interest of maintaining or promoting international peace or avoiding repression.

Section 15 of the Act specifies that the Committee must avoid transfers of arms to governments that systematically violates or suppresses human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Zimbabwean defence forces have used violent force against opposition and civil society since the elections of 29 March 2008 and the results have still not been released.
 
The Act also specifies that the “conveyance” of conventional arms refers to any movement of arms in South African territory or its waters. “This means that the South African government still has responsibility of the fate of these weapons,” said IANSA Africa Coordinator Joseph Dube. “It has already violated its own laws by issuing the conveyance of the weapons over its territory. It must now act to prevent the ship entering the territory of its neighbouring Southern African countries.”
 
In 2004, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted a Firearms Protocol to promote and facilitate, amongst other things, regional cooperation to prevent the excessive and destablising possession and use of firearms and ammuntion. The Protocol also states that SADC member countries should harmonise their laws for arms transfers, including export and transit.
South Africa and all SADC member states must comply with its obligations under the Protocol and should also reject the transfer of this consignment of arms into Zimbabwe.