Why Did South Africa Relinquish Its Nuclear Weapons? | TheCollector

Write for us

HomeHistory<br>Why Did South Africa Relinquish Its Nuclear Weapons?<br>South Africa had a small nuclear arsenal during the Cold War, but relinquished it after the end of Apartheid.<br>Published: May 23, 2026 written by Patrick Bodovitz, BA Political Science/History, MA Peace & Conflict Resolution

Published: May 23, 2026written by Patrick Bodovitz, BA Political Science/History, MA Peace & Conflict Resolution

Throughout the Apartheid years, South Africa’s leaders believed that their system of white rule was under imminent threat from both internal and external enemies. Having seen the effectiveness of nuclear weapons in WWII, officials in Pretoria decided that a robust nuclear program was an effective deterrent. When it relinquished them in the 1990s, South Africa set a precedent for self-disarmament that gave people hope that the nuclear age could finally come to an end.

South Africa in the Cold War

South African Prime Minister D.F. Malan and his cabinet. Source: Wikimedia Commons

From 1948 to 1994, South Africa was ruled by the National Party, an autocratic party devoted to the maintenance of White Rule in South Africa. It authorized the total segregation of society between White people and anyone else of Black, Asian, or mixed-race background. It also promoted a strongly anti-communist ideology, arguing that racial equality was a communist plot to destroy the country. As a result, the security services brutally crushed resistance against the system, often accusing its critics of being Soviet stooges.

Initially, its policies were seen as a reflection of common practice in the African continent. When the National Party came into power and enshrined existing racist practices into law, it followed the practices of European colonies throughout the continent. However, the Cold War changed power dynamics in Africa. South Africa’s racial and security policies were seen as anachronistic and outrageous. Many revolutionary leftist factions, based inside and outside of the country, vowed to overthrow the National Party’s rule.

As South Africa began facing an increase in hostile threats, its leaders vowed to turn the state into a veritable fortress. South African prime ministers, from D.F. Malan to P.W. Botha, all sought to increase South Africa’s conventional and unconventional weapons capacity. The development of a nuclear arsenal was a part of South Africa’s deterrence efforts and one of the country’s closest-kept secrets. In doing so, South Africa became the only country in Africa to have created and allegedly tested a nuclear weapon.

The Creation of SAFARI-1

Image of the SAFARI-1 nuclear reactor near Pelindaba, c. 1968. Source: NTP Radioisotopes

Prime Minister D.F. Malan, elected in 1948, had the twin objectives of modernizing South Africa while preserving White rule. South Africa is known for its rich mineral resources, including uranium. In 1948, his government and the Volksraad (the Apartheid-era parliament) passed the Atomic Energy Act to regulate the uranium industry in the country. The Atomic Energy Board was responsible for the country’s efforts to extract uranium and establish a civil nuclear program. It gained a boost when South Africa signed onto the American-led Atoms for Peace program.

Atoms for Peace was not meant to be a weapons program. Instead, it was meant to be an international information-sharing forum on nuclear research for civil purposes. Therefore, when South Africa signed the agreement, it did not arouse suspicions that the country aimed to develop nuclear weapons. It had already allowed the US and UK to buy a lot of its own uranium and its nuclear scientists had close ties to counterparts in the West. By joining Atoms for Peace, South Africa could gain American technology to create its own nuclear reactor.

In the late 1950s, South Africa joined the IAEA. In 1959, PM Verwoerd, a major supporter of South Africa’s nuclear program, approved the creation of a reactor at Pelindaba. A.J.A. Roux, a senior official in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, was in charge of the program. American engineers helped create the reactor, known as SAFARI-1. By 1965, South Africa had its first nuclear reactor, a pivotal step in the creation of an atomic weapons program.

From Civil Nuclear Power to Nuclear Weapons

Satellite image of the Kalahari Nuclear Test Site in South Africa, 1977. Source: National Security Archive, George Washington University

In addition to South Africa receiving American backing in building SAFARI-1, the United States also sent nearly 100 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium fuel. Before the country began to become isolated, South African officials believed that they had a lot of support from the West and could afford to build a plutonium reactor called SAFARI-2. Scientists hoped to enrich plutonium and heavy water to generate nuclear power but the project was abandoned after a few...