Project Coast

Project Coast was a top-secret chemical and biological weapons (CBW) program instituted by the South African government during the apartheid era. Project Coast was the successor to a limited post-war CBW program which mainly produced the lethal agents CX powder and mustard gas; as well as non-lethal tear gas for riot control purposes. Project Coast was headed by Wouter Basson, a cardiologist who was the personal physician of the then South African Prime Minister PW Botha.

In the late 1970s, South Africa became increasingly involved in Angola in operations against Soviet-backed SWAPO, Cuban and Angolan troops. A perceived threat that its enemies had access to battlefield chemical and biological weapons led South Africa to begin expanding its own program, initially as a defensive measure and to carry out research on vaccines. As the years went on, research was carried out into offensive uses of the newly found capability. Finally, in 1981, then-president PW Botha ordered the South African Defence Force (SADF) to develop the technology so that it could be used effectively against South Africa's enemies. In response, the head of the SADF's South African Medical Service (SAMS) division, responsible for defensive CBW capabilities, hired Dr 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 program be expanded, and in 1983, Project Coast was formed, with Dr Basson at its head.

To hide the program, and to make the procurement of CBW-related substances, Project Coast involved the formation of four front companies: Delta G Scientific Company, Roodeplaat Research Laboratories (RRL), Protechnik and Infladel.

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