Why did South Africa Give up its Nukes? (Short Animated Documentary) 

“Our nuclear weapons will be used for peaceful purposes” - _Generic dictator_

History matters: why did South Africa give up its Nukes? Me:South Africa had nukes?

South Africa at this time is probably one of the few countries since 1945 who could claim to have got rid of nukes and be genuinely believed

Being born and raised in South Africa, this was surprisingly accurate

It's taken 28 years but that shattering sound was the perfect way to concisely represent the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Please do a video on why Namibia is no longer a part of South Africa.

nukes: i thought you never gonna give me up south africa: sorry I let you down

Having a look at the total disarray of the current SA government, getting rid of their Nukes was a demonstration of maturity, wisdom and foresight.

"Can't leave them nuks to them blacks" - Some Politicians

We’ll never give up our weapons

There’s a little that was left out of this video on why South Africa developed nuclear weapons in the first place. They never did make enough weapons to serve as a deterrent to Angola attacking their country. Plus, nuking your own land to prevent a foreign invasion is less than ideal. Yes, Angola was backed by the Soviets. The South African government was banking on the United States intervening on their behalf if it looked like they were going to be overrun by communists. South Africa developed nuclear weapons to convince the American government that the consequences for not intervening would be worse than if they did intervene.

It was actually pretty common knowledge SA had nukes by the mid-1980s. Paul Verhoeven has a little fun with the issue in RoboCop (1987) during a fictional news piece that has the crumbling white apartheid government threatening to use them in order to prevent the fall of Pretoria.

Just to add a little something. In September 1979 the Vela Incident occurred in the ocean halfway between S. Africa and Antarctica. A US satellite system detected a flash which was more than likely a nuclear explosion. The specific location and timing meant it should have gone undetected except one of the satellites in the global detection system which had been listed as inoperable was in fact still in working order and captured the flash. S. Africa denied it was a test, and the US quickly changed to official story to it likely being a natural event. But it probably was a clandestine small nuclear test, either done by S. Africa, Israel, or the two countries working together.

"We had Nukes" lmao, that's what you call a serious silent threat that no one ever knew about.

“...to make sure it wasn’t too civil-war-y”. That cracked me up!

Without watching the vid. The first thing i thought of was, could anyone imagine the ANC having nukes? They'd probably sell it to anyone for the right price.

So we’re just going to brush over the CUBANS IN ANGOLA

"Well, if we're going down for Gods sake don't let the ANC get the nukes". That was probably the REAL thinking.

As a South African, I didn't know this but find it highly interesting and informative. Thank you!

What incredible foresight.

US intervention in Central and South America during the cold war would be a great next video!

The nuclear warheads are peaceful! -South Africa Mahandi Ghandi: Yes, I like you.

Imagine what it would be like if the ANC or EFF had access to nukes.

I lived in Malawi 1976-80. I believe I saw the flash from the SA test. I was leaving a friend's house in Lilongwe late one evening and suddenly, as I opened my car door, we both could momentarily see clouds in a blue sky, green trees and each other's faces before it went dark again. We were both stunned but neither of us heard any sound, not was there any rush of wind, so we must have been too far away for that.

As someone with ADHD these history videos that go straight to the point but is still detailed and maintains context is like heaven to me. Plus visuals help a lot

I represented South Africa in a Yom Kippur War committee in Model UN. I had fun threatening that I had uranium I could use and send to Israel. I gave some uranium to Australia thinking he wouldn't do anything against me and at the end he ended up nuking Cape Town

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!

Thanks for your accuracy and attention to detail. If almost anybody else was drawing a cartoonish South Africa they would have left out Caprivi Strip but of course you did not!

I'm surprised the mysterious test detonation in the ocean near S Africa was not mentioned at all (the Vela incident). Never realized they actually had nuclear weapons. Good video otherwise.

Hey a video I can contribute to, in my final year of varsity one the engineers that worked on the nuclear missile program gave us a presentation on his experience in it. He didn't work on the nuclear bombs themselves, but rather on the rockets that were supposed to be able to carry them to Angola. He told us about the incredible secrecy that was involved, to the point that not even the people making the bombs and missiles knew what they were doing. They would design components and have multiple different companies work on each part separately and lie about what the component was for, then bring them all back together and assemble them on site. The missiles were assembled in an old farm and a barn house tower was used to stand the missile upright, with the main part of the barn used for construction. He told us how, even though they knew what to build they didn't actually have anyone with the experience to design the rockets they needed, but that the USA was willing to help, just not officially. They would fly to Canada, cross the border into the USA and obtain blueprints and designs to aid in the construction back at home, and he mentioned how a private airport was constructed where they could land and take-off in secret. When the program was shut down the USA sent officials over to oversee the closure and make sure we had definitely gotten rid of the nukes, they poured concrete into the missile silos, but the old casings are still in a museum to this day, they look pretty much spot on to the drawings in your video. If I remember correctly they never actually tested the range of the rockets, so even though we had nukes we couldn't have launched them. I still have the PowerPoint presentation that he gave us, just wish I had a video of the actual interview. I asked him if he ever felt bad that he had worked on something that was essentially going to be used to kill people and he said his time on the program were the best years of his life. He said how it was the most challenging thing he'd ever done and how his trips to the USA made him feel like a spy. All-in-all a really great presentation and one the highlights of my varsity days.

I'm pretty lit off some big smirnoff can so I feel friendly enough to say; I really like your channel.

My friend's dad who worked in a top secret government facility in south africa told him a secret one day, saying that although our nukes were dismantled, we had the means to reconstruct them if need be. I'm not sure if this is true but considering how powerful our military was in apartheid, it might be.

2:38 Best ever image of the Cold War ending.

Makes no difference now, the ANC would have probably sold those nukes to the Guptas

true reason: we knew the ANC is corrupt, so we took them away before they could do something with it.

The stuff written on those small boards is pure comedic gold

Seeing how our current government runs and maintains our power grid, I, as a South African, am sooooo glad we don't have nuclear weapons anymore 😂🙆‍♂️.

The most interesting things about SA nuclear weapons is that they used Vortex separation to obtain the HEU. They are probably the only 1's to do it that way.

One of the best videos I seen on this topic.

I highly recommend that you read “The Unspoken Alliance” because it explains how South Africa developed its nukes and why they wanted/needed them in the first place.

I just love how you always include portraits hanging on the wall-lends a degree of atmosphere lacking in other vids tbh 10/10

@1:12 You pictured Swaziland (Now eSwatini) as part of Potuguese East Africa and Mozambique, but it was never part thereof. Swaziland was a British colony and obtained independence in 1968.

i really love that "insert earth here" in that logo 😂

Imagine the ANC with all their incompetence and corruption inherited the nukes. This was a gift to humanity to take the matches out of the child's hands and preventing fires from starting

"Insert Earth Here" made me laugh more than it should've

That was a wise decision.

I'm an American whose been living in South Africa for years now. Some have said that a few of the A bombs were taken away and hidden. Only a few VP's knew where they were. I wonder if these bombs are still in safe hands..... if they are indeed still intact. Well, one day we just might all find out.... one way or the other.

A video on Rhodesia would be informative.

Thanks for doing a South Africa episode!

no one: ... South Africa: ♫Uranium fever has done and got me down Uranium fever is spreadin' all around With a Geiger counter in my hand I'm a-goin' out to stake me some government land Uranium fever has done and got me down ♫

Let us just imagine the current South Africa with nukes. Now thank God.

Pretty sensible to not give the ANC nukes LMAO

As a South Arican, it's always interesting to hear foreigners pronounce our names and surnames. Like "Botha". XD

I love the simple yet elegant animation style

"Well, I think I know the answer but I'm not sure I should say it." - Stan Marsh, South Park

After reading the title my gut reaction was the final reason given within seconds of the end of the video.

Rhodesia deserves its own episode

2:15 Warning: Splodey boi

Wow so informational

Can you imagine the ANC with access to nukes?

You're doing a great job. I liked the old format but this one is good too. I hope you do well and grow the channel.

Wonderful video I am always amazed seeing your videos, they're so so sooo informative and knowledgeable. Keep it up 👍

Good call on their part, I don't like thinking of their current clown-show having access to nukes.

Great information

Next video “Why did Ukraine give up 5k nukes to Russia?”

Seeing how South Africa ended up *Whew*

And now this beautiful country is sadly going down. This is my birth country, it is my home and would never live anywhere else. I love all its people..... I pray for all its people.

I'm so glad, just imagine the ANC with nukes oh my gosh.

I'm new to these History Matters documentaries & I think they're absolutely brilliant. I knew quite a bit on some of the subjects but I still find them informative. Thank you so much & please keep making them.

1:13 my country appears in the friend list

Great vid!One of the smartest moves made in sa at the time.

US: We hate communist South Africa: So you will help us in Angola right? US: No

Reminds me of that old game named Soldier of Fortune. There your main villain is a former South African general who stole nukes from the Russia and sold them to various terrorist organizations around the world.. He used to propose to use South African nukes as a leverage to end UN embargo. Now he grew up to be a terrorist mastermind and your job is to locate and safely defuse those nukes and then to eliminate him. And he has a brother who is a leader of a very dangerous gang of criminals in the USA because why not. That game was cool.

History matters, the show that gives you the best answers to the best questions you never asked

I was just rewatching this and if you come across me would you think about making a video about how Namibia left SA?

Well, if you want to build a nuclear bomb, its pretty easy, you go to Brasil, and buy fairly cheap book called "A Fisica dos Explosivos Nucleares" which translates for The physics of nuclear explosives, it was made by a University professor who was dared to do it for his PHD, he use the only 2 pictures of the american bomb opened, and the scarce test results that were not classifed.

I thought they just handed them over to Isreal. re: Vela incident.

They saw where it was going, and didn't want them getting access to that weapon

Short but concise.

I’m glad you finally got around to the crux of the matter.

A video on the History of Panama would be interesting.

YESSS FINALLY A VID ON SA IM SO HAPPY I COULD BREAK MY CAPS LOCK BUTTON

Just imagine the present situation if they didn't...

You can’t put Nukes in the recycling, the local council would be very annoyed.

Thank god they gave it up. Could you imagine the current South African governments with nukes?

In the 1980s stories circulated of an undersea nuke test in the south Atlantic, possibly done by South Africa.

Well done on getting the reason for the nukes decommissioning correct.

Man, I love history and your info but I have to admit I mainly come here for the sarcasm.

Lmfao can you imagine someone walking up to you holding up a sign that says “turns out you suck” 😂😂😂😂

I mean look at South Africa now, kind of glad they do not have nukes cause its utter chaos over there

lol imagine if the ANC was in charge of Nukes… they would have sold them on the black market to the highest bidder

Just finished “the girl who saved the king of Sweden” and wanted to know more about this, thanks for the info

very accurate well done

And look at the state south africa is in now.

No one was really concerned that a democratic SA would nuke anyone. But there were enormous concerns that the nukes could be sold to other countries, particularly Libya, since the ANC had a friendly relationship with Gaddafi.

From nuclear nation to failed state in 30 years. What a waste.

2:57 I'm sorry but your flat delivery made this way to funny

hahaha I was so shocked you could find so many reasons other than the "one more reason".

Interesting stuff.

I'm from South Africa. Thank you for this.