Editing Project Coast (section)

==History==
From 1975 onwards, the [[South African Defence Force]] (SADF) found itself embroiled in conventional battles in Angola as a result of the [[South African Border War]]. The perception that its enemies had access to battlefield chemical and biological weapons (CBW) led South Africa to begin expanding its programme, initially as a defensive measure and by researching vaccines. As the years went on, research shifted to offensive uses. In 1981, President [[P. W. Botha]] ordered the SADF to develop CBW technology for use against South Africa's enemies. In response, the head of the [[South African Medical Service]] division, which was responsible for defensive CBW capabilities, hired [[Wouter Basson]], a cardiologist, to visit other countries and report back on their respective CBW capabilities. He returned with the recommendation that South Africa's programme be expanded. In 1983, Project Coast was formed, with Basson at its head. To hide the programme and its procurement of CBW-related substances, Project Coast formed four front companies: [[Delta G Scientific Company]], [[Roodeplaat Research Laboratories]], [[Protechnik]] and [[Infladel]].<ref name="UNPROJCOAST">{{cite book|url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/145221/2002_ProjectCoase_en.pdf|title=Project Coast: Apartheid's Chemical and Biological Warfare Programme|first1=Chandré |last1=Gould |first2=Peter |last2=Folb|year=2002 |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-last=Berold|publisher=United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research|location=Geneva, Switzerland|isbn=92-9045-144-0}}</ref> [[Ben Raubenheimer]] was appointed as CEO.<ref name="UNPROJCOAST" />{{rp|52}}

Project Coast created a progressively larger variety of lethal offensive CBW toxins and [[biotoxin]]s, in addition to the defensive measures. Initially, they were intended for use by the military in combat as a last resort. To that end, they copied Soviet techniques and designed devices that looked like ordinary objects but could poison those targeted for assassination. Examples included umbrellas and walking sticks that fired pellets containing poison, syringes disguised as screwdrivers, and poisoned beer cans and envelopes. In the early 1990s, with the end of apartheid, [[South Africa and weapons of mass destruction|South Africa's weapons of mass destruction]] programmes were stopped. Despite efforts to destroy equipment, stocks, and information from those programmes, some still remain, leading to fears that they may find their way into the possession of terrorist networks.

In May 2002, [[Daan Goosen]], the former head of South Africa's biological weapons programmes, contacted the FBI and offered to exchange existing bacterial stocks from the programmes in return for US$5 million, together with immigration permits for him and 19 other associates and their family members. The offer was eventually refused, with the FBI claiming that the strains were obsolete and therefore no longer a threat.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/04/20/lethal-legacy-bioweapons-for-sale/4f1c6c0c-3733-4804-ba17-8f0051fda91d/| title = Lethal Legacy: Bioweapons for Sale – The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2003-04-21|title=Offer the FBI decided it had to refuse|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/offer-the-fbi-decided-it-had-to-refuse-20030421-gdgmuk.html|access-date=2021-07-24|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref>