Yesterday 2oceansvibe published the above photo of what the ISS confirmed to be an armoured personnel carrier being loaded on to a vessel in the Cape Town Harbour, shown above.

Reports have surfaced in the Cape Times and News24 of arms transactions between South Africa and Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya.

The frequency and timing of South Africa’s sale of arms to Libya has been thrown in to sharp relief following Gaddafi’s repeated threats and use of excessive violence to quell demands for political change from the citizens of Libya.

When pressed by 2oceansvibe for assurance that the armoured personnel carrier sighted by 2oceansvibe was not destined for Libya, the spokesperson for the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, Tlali Tlali issued the following statement:

I confirm that the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) duly authorized arms trade between South African companies in the defence-related industry and the Republic of Libya in 2010. The transaction was authorized after the NCACC was satisfied that requirements with the legislative criteria in terms of the National Conventional Arms Control Act 41 of 2002 had been complied with.

We are in process of preparing a media statement dealing with issues that have become of media interest given what is happening in North Africa and parts of the Midddle East region.

We will update this story as new information comes to light.