AfriForum’s nearly 400-seat theatre in Pretoria has sold out for an event featuring Wouter Basson, the former head of the apartheid-era chemical and biological warfare programme Project Coast.

Basson, widely known as “Dr Death”, is expected to present what organisers describe as his “personal version of Project Coast” to military veterans on Friday.

AfriForum said it was not involved in organising the event and that its role was limited to providing the venue.

AfriForum distances itself from event

AfriForum chief executive Kallie Kriel told News24 the theatre is regularly rented by a wide range of organisations.

He said the venue does not determine or prescribe the content of events held there.

Kriel said the event is being organised by military veterans from the Special Forces Association together with a group called Fort Swartkop.

He added that the event forms part of a series called “Recce Stories”, which has been hosted at the AfriForum Theatre for about three years.

Basson previously appeared at the theatre as part of the same series.

Basson’s Project Coast history resurfaces

According to the event description, Basson established the apartheid government’s South African Defence Force medical unit for special forces and was tasked with developing defensive chemical and biological capabilities.

News24 reported that Project Coast developed toxins used against anti-apartheid activists, including Reverend Frank Chikane.

The event material also claims Basson developed an espionage network to infiltrate Western and communist countries.

Basson was acquitted of several criminal charges in 2002.

Kriel said AfriForum’s position was that Basson had not been found guilty by the courts and that the organisation believed in the rule of law.

Disciplinary charges remain unresolved

News24 reported that Basson faces four disciplinary charges before the Health Professions Council of South Africa linked to his role in Project Coast.

The charges include allegations involving the mass production of drugs such as Mandrax and MDMA, the weaponisation of tear gas mortars, the supply of substances used to tranquillise kidnapping victims and the distribution of cyanide capsules to special forces.

Former police minister Bheki Cele previously told the Khampepe Commission that Basson had used his medical knowledge to wage biological warfare against black people.

News24 also reported that the state spent about R218 million prosecuting Basson.