Report: South Africa was transit point for weapons to Madagascar

Feb 12, 2012, 11:09 GMT

Johannesburg - South Africa served as a transit point for a shipment of crowd-control weapons to Madagascar's former president, a Johannesburg-based newspaper reported Sunday.

The Sunday Independent cited a cable from the United States embassy in Antananarivo saying Chinese-made riot control equipment - including grenades, rubber bullets and teargas - were unloaded in South Africa and then collected by then-president Marc Ravalomanana's private jet.

The move allowed the shipment to bypass custom controls, according to the newspaper, which received the cable from WikiLeaks.

Ravalomanana has lived in exile in South Africa since he was ousted in a military-backed coup 2009 that brought Andry Rajoelina, the former mayor of the capital, to power.

Last month, Ravalomanana was prevented from returning home. Following his ousting, he was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the killing of protesters by the presidential guard during his final weeks in power.

According to the Sunday Independent, South Africa's National Conventional Arms Control Committee failed to stop or supervise the movement of the weapons and was in 'serial dereliction of its legislative mandate' to watch over such shipments.

Most major parties in Madagascar signed a deal in September, agreeing to a roadmap proposed by southern African nations for elections this year and a general amnesty that excludes war crimes.

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