John Vorster

John Vorster was the Prime Minister of South Africa. He had sided with Germany during World War II. In 1976, he visited Israel, marking the first official state visit by a South African prime minister to Israel. This visit resulted in a renewal of full diplomatic relations, as well as secret arms transfer agreements that would enable the two countries to work together in defiance of international opinion and United Nations sanctions.¹

Shimon Peres made at least one private trip to Pretoria before the Vorster visit to arrange for arms and nuclear cooperation. His agenda included nuclear testing, and he won a commitment in principle from John Vorster for a series of joint Israeli–South African tests in South Africa.¹

In 1970, Vorster informed Parliament that South Africa's nuclear scientists had developed a unique uranium enrichment process involving jetnozzle enrichment and a sophisticated cascade technique. Within a few years, South Africa began construction of a pilot plant for the production of enriched uranium, not subject to IAEA safeguards, at a plant called Valindaba near Pretoria.¹