Coventry Four
Encyclopedia
Four South African alleged arms smugglers were arrested by HM Customs & Excise officers in Coventry
in March 1984 and charged with conspiring to export arms from Britain
to apartheid South Africa
in contravention of the mandatory UN arms embargo
. They became known as the Coventry Four.
s, radar
magnetrons, aircraft parts and other military equipment in violation of the mandatory arms embargo
imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
. The uncovering of their smuggling operation and subsequent arrest followed the discovery of a shipment of artillery
elevating gears at Birmingham International Airport in 1984.
The Coventry Four were Hendrik Jacobus Botha, Stephanus Johannes de Jager, William Randolph Metelerkamp and Jacobus Le Grange. In the front company (McNay Pty Ltd) they operated on behalf of Kentron, Metelerkamp was the Managing Director, Botha was in charge of administration and security, De Jager was the company accountant, while Le Grange was the technical expert.
One of the ways in which they worked around the international arms embargo
was for Le Grange to travel to the United States to source military materiel
- this would subsequently be imported by Fosse Way Securities in the UK, before being shipped onwards to South Africa via other countries.
A fifth man, professor Johannes Cloete of Stellenbosch University
– a key player in South Africa's missile development program – was arrested at the same time as the Coventry Four. But, according to The Guardian
of 17 December 1988, Cloete's arrest was quickly followed by his release without charge on instructions from senior Whitehall
officials.
The three British men arrested at the same time were Michael Swann, Derek Salt and Michael Henry Gardiner. Salt had previously been dismissed from another company for manufacturing ammunition dies
for the South African military, which he concealed as sewing machine equipment. After his dismissal, Salt continued to deal with Armscor
, despite the international arms embargo. His company in Coventry manufactured mortar
casing to Armscor's specifications, and also sub-contracted the manufacture of the high-precision artillery gears seized by HM Customs to a German company.
The Coventry Four were remanded in custody and their passports confiscated. After several weeks, they were released on bail of £200,000 when André Pelser, 1st Secretary at the South African embassy, waived his diplomatic immunity
and stood surety
. Then, following an alleged intervention from Downing Street
, they applied to a Judge sitting in Chambers
to recover their passports. In May 1984, Judge Leonard granted the request and allowed the Coventry Four to travel to South Africa, on condition that they undertook to return to Britain for their trial. Salt was given a 10 month jail sentence and fined £25,000 for his part in the operation, while the UK companies involved paid fines of £193,000.
controversially invited South Africa's president P.W. Botha and foreign minister Pik Botha
to a meeting at Chequers
in an effort to stave off growing international pressure for the imposition of economic sanctions against South Africa, where both the U.S. and Britain had invested heavily. Although not officially on the meeting's agenda, the Coventry Four affair clouded both the proceedings at Chequers and Britain's bilateral diplomatic relations with South Africa.
In August 1989, British diplomat Patrick Haseldine
was dismissed for publicly criticising the UK government in the press of double standards over the release of the four suspects.
, Pik Botha decided to retaliate by refusing to allow the Coventry Four to return to Britain to stand trial. Foreign Office minister, Malcolm Rifkind
, reported to the House of Commons that the South African government was wholly to blame for the men's non-appearance in a British court, and that Pretoria
should cooperate. In the event the men did not come back to stand trial and no action was taken against South Africa. The £200,000 bail money was thus forfeited by the South African embassy.
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
in March 1984 and charged with conspiring to export arms from Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to apartheid South Africa
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
in contravention of the mandatory UN arms embargo
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, adopted unanimously on 4 November 1977, imposed a mandatory arms embargo against apartheid South Africa. This resolution differed from the earlier Resolution 282, which was only voluntary...
. They became known as the Coventry Four.
Smuggling activities
The four South Africans plus three Britons were charged in the Coventry Magistrates Court on 2 April 1984 with conspiring to export to South Africa high pressure gas cylinderGas cylinder
A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel used to store gases at above atmospheric pressure. High pressure gas cylinders are also called bottles. Although they are sometimes colloquially called "tanks", this is technically incorrect, as a tank is a vessel used to store liquids at ambient pressure and...
s, radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
magnetrons, aircraft parts and other military equipment in violation of the mandatory arms embargo
Arms embargo
An arms embargo is an embargo that applies to weaponry. It may also include "dual use" items. An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes:# to signal disapproval of behavior by a certain actor,# to maintain neutral standing in an ongoing conflict, or...
imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, adopted unanimously on 4 November 1977, imposed a mandatory arms embargo against apartheid South Africa. This resolution differed from the earlier Resolution 282, which was only voluntary...
. The uncovering of their smuggling operation and subsequent arrest followed the discovery of a shipment of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
elevating gears at Birmingham International Airport in 1984.
The Coventry Four were Hendrik Jacobus Botha, Stephanus Johannes de Jager, William Randolph Metelerkamp and Jacobus Le Grange. In the front company (McNay Pty Ltd) they operated on behalf of Kentron, Metelerkamp was the Managing Director, Botha was in charge of administration and security, De Jager was the company accountant, while Le Grange was the technical expert.
One of the ways in which they worked around the international arms embargo
Arms embargo
An arms embargo is an embargo that applies to weaponry. It may also include "dual use" items. An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes:# to signal disapproval of behavior by a certain actor,# to maintain neutral standing in an ongoing conflict, or...
was for Le Grange to travel to the United States to source military materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
- this would subsequently be imported by Fosse Way Securities in the UK, before being shipped onwards to South Africa via other countries.
A fifth man, professor Johannes Cloete of Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch University is a public research university situated in the town of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Other nearby universities are the University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape....
– a key player in South Africa's missile development program – was arrested at the same time as the Coventry Four. But, according to The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
of 17 December 1988, Cloete's arrest was quickly followed by his release without charge on instructions from senior Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
officials.
The three British men arrested at the same time were Michael Swann, Derek Salt and Michael Henry Gardiner. Salt had previously been dismissed from another company for manufacturing ammunition dies
Die (manufacturing)
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create...
for the South African military, which he concealed as sewing machine equipment. After his dismissal, Salt continued to deal with Armscor
Armscor
Armscor refers to either:*Armscor , the South African arms acquisition and sales agency*Armscor , the Philippines-based manufacturer of weapons...
, despite the international arms embargo. His company in Coventry manufactured mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
casing to Armscor's specifications, and also sub-contracted the manufacture of the high-precision artillery gears seized by HM Customs to a German company.
The Coventry Four were remanded in custody and their passports confiscated. After several weeks, they were released on bail of £200,000 when André Pelser, 1st Secretary at the South African embassy, waived his diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
and stood surety
Surety
A surety or guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults...
. Then, following an alleged intervention from Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
, they applied to a Judge sitting in Chambers
Chambers (law)
A judge's chambers, often just called his or her chambers, is the office of a judge.Chambers may also refer to the type of courtroom where motions related to matter of procedure are heard.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :...
to recover their passports. In May 1984, Judge Leonard granted the request and allowed the Coventry Four to travel to South Africa, on condition that they undertook to return to Britain for their trial. Salt was given a 10 month jail sentence and fined £25,000 for his part in the operation, while the UK companies involved paid fines of £193,000.
Controversial visit
In June 1984, British prime minister Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
controversially invited South Africa's president P.W. Botha and foreign minister Pik Botha
Pik Botha
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha is a former South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era...
to a meeting at Chequers
Chequers
Chequers, or Chequers Court, is a country house near Ellesborough, to the south of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, at the foot of the Chiltern Hills...
in an effort to stave off growing international pressure for the imposition of economic sanctions against South Africa, where both the U.S. and Britain had invested heavily. Although not officially on the meeting's agenda, the Coventry Four affair clouded both the proceedings at Chequers and Britain's bilateral diplomatic relations with South Africa.
In August 1989, British diplomat Patrick Haseldine
Patrick Haseldine
Patrick John Haseldine is a former British diplomat who was dismissed in August 1989 by the then Foreign Secretary, John Major, for "various disciplinary offences constituting breaches of the Diplomatic Service Regulations"...
was dismissed for publicly criticising the UK government in the press of double standards over the release of the four suspects.
Quid pro quo
In August 1984, when anti-apartheid activists – threatened with arrest in South Africa – took refuge in the British consulate in DurbanDurban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, Pik Botha decided to retaliate by refusing to allow the Coventry Four to return to Britain to stand trial. Foreign Office minister, Malcolm Rifkind
Malcolm Rifkind
Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind KCMG QC MP is a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament for Kensington. He served in various roles as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Secretary of State for Scotland , Defence Secretary and...
, reported to the House of Commons that the South African government was wholly to blame for the men's non-appearance in a British court, and that Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
should cooperate. In the event the men did not come back to stand trial and no action was taken against South Africa. The £200,000 bail money was thus forfeited by the South African embassy.
See also
- Gerald BullGerald BullGerald Vincent Bull was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to launch economically a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon "supergun" for the Iraqi government...
, imprisoned for smuggling artillery technology to South Africa - South Africa and weapons of mass destructionSouth Africa and weapons of mass destructionFrom the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa pursued research into weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Six nuclear weapons were assembled...
- Vela IncidentVela IncidentThe Vela Incident was an unidentified "double flash" of light that was detected by an American Vela Hotel satellite on September 22, 1979....