Mr Chairperson, the DA has written to the Director- General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr Yukiya Amano, calling on his organisation to intervene in the ongoing problems surrounding South Africa's nuclear installation at Pelindaba. This facility currently stores the remnants of South Africa's highly enriched weapons grade uranium and is therefore of enormous strategic importance to our national security framework. Security at the facility simply must be impenetrable.
The DA is deeply concerned about security breaches that have taken place at this installation in the past, and the ongoing risk of similar incidents occurring again. Of concern is the security breach that occurred during 2007 when several armed men managed to breach the facility security, an incident in which several people were wounded. To date no one has been arrested for this incident, nor has their true intention been established.
Secondly, of concern is the arrest of seven men in Pretoria in 2010. These men were arrested at a service station, trying to sell radio-active nuclear material. The original source of the material from which this sample was taken has not been discovered yet.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts to engage with the department and the SA Nuclear Energy Corporation, Necsa, on these issues, I can only assume that the department or Necsa does not take this issue seriously enough, or that there is a concerted effort to keep these facts out of the public domain. Either way, I am forced to appeal to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, for assistance on these issues and in accordance with South African participation in international nuclear nonproliferation agreements. Thank you, Mr Chairman. [Time expired.] [Applause.]