South Africa bans artillery shell exports to some countries

Spokesperson for the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation Chrispin Phiri has said that South Africa’s legislation prohibits the export of weapons and ammunition to the countries that might redirect them to conflict zones.

Phiri was commenting on the information about a ban on export of South African artillery shell requested by Poland, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

"Pursuant to South African law, the export of ammunition to the countries that could reroute them to conflict zones is forbidden," Phiri stated. "The National Conventional Arms Control Committee of South Africa oversees this process and makes the final decisions on the export of all weaponry, including ammunition."

Earlier, the Polish Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported that the South African government had banned the shipment of a batch of 50,000 155mm artillery shells to Poland. This order was placed in 2022 with the South African company Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM), which is owned by the German Rheinmetall company.