Dr. Wouter Basson may not be a household name yet, but there's a good reason locals call him "Dr. Death”. His top-secret biological warfare program during apartheid South Africa is alleged to be behind killings, poisonings, and kidnappings in the 1980's. And according to this top cardiologist, “Medicine is my profession...war is my hobby.” Yikes!
What's more, sterilization for black people and super-strong, deadly MDMA were also part of his portfolio. How can this doc still claim this was only "for the benefit of mankind and to limit loss of life"?
Read on to reveal the man, the methods, and the madness!
Separate But Equal?
Apartheid means “apartness” in Afrikaans, and this became the name of the official political order in South Africa. Blacks and whites could not mix under this system, which lasted from 1948 until the early 1990's. Although it was a while ago, it isn't really ancient history!
Maintaining political and economic discrimination against a majority is a tricky balance, of course. The regime knew it needed more than a police force to keep everything going forever. But no one could have imagined the frightening programs under wraps, in case things got rough. What were these people really up to, back then?
Hope and Change
White South African president F.W. de Klerk agreed to repeal most apartheid laws in the early 1990s, and a new constitution was written for all. Pressure from outside and inside the country led to a formal end to institutionalized racism, and a black-majority government got their turn. Why, that's the story of Nelson Mandela!
Now, South Africa had its first modern black president. And it was time to heal this fractured society, once and for all. Information started to come out about the reality of the previous regime, however. Were things even worse than the common people knew?
Meet The Mastermind
Back in the time of apartheid, South Africa was full of state-sponsored racism — but one man decided to take that to the next level using formal medical training. Native son Dr. Wouter Basson graduated from the University of Pretoria medical school in 1974, specializing in cardiology. Just what was a sharp young doctor to do back then?
In Wouter's case, it turned out to be joining the South African Defense Force in 1975. Quickly, he rose in the ranks. What position did he accept in the early 1980's that would lead to horror for the nation?
Recruiting The Best
Project Coast was started in 1981 under the direction of Prime Minister P.W. Botha and the Ministry of Defense. Wouter headed the entire operation, including recruitment. He found around 200 qualified professionals to join the secret military program, initially presented as something quite noble.
High-ranking members of the army, along with scientists and doctors were told they were joining a defense-oriented research project to guard the country from "enemies of the state". But what was this all about, really?
Introducing Project Coast
The decorated Army brigadier specialized in matters of the heart, literally. But as head and founder of this program, Wouter was exploring something quite different. Why, it was only a top-secret biological and chemical warfare program. No big deal, right?
As it turns out, the activities of this project would later come to symbolize the terror of the apartheid regime. Garnering international attention, Wouter would have to answer for it one day. What did he openly admit to, during recent interviews?
Genocide Prep?
Project Coast seems to have worked on race-specific bacteria weapons to control the population in South Africa. After the regime dissolved in the 1990s, newly elected officials made a declaration: “If ever there was a program that truly typified the genocidal programs of the apartheid regime, this was it.”
One idea they pursued was a vaccine to secretly sterilize black women! In a documentary interview in 2009, Wouter was proud: "That was great...that was the most fun I've had in my life." An insane response! But what else was engineered with Project Coast, even worse than this?
Poisoned Products
The government was pretty worried back then about an uprising, so they took secret measures to plan ahead: Chemical and biological neutralizers for uppity activists. Besides preventing blacks from reproducing too much, it was important to sabotage them while they were alive and well.
Wouter Basson developed anthrax cigarettes. He also created toxic drinks, like milk, whiskey, and even water. Somehow, he also thought of poisoned umbrella and other innocuous-looking objects to give out en masse. When would this wild, sinister plan begin?
Surprise Sickness
What were Wouter's colleagues being told about this mad science project? Later in the discovery process, there would be plenty of testimony!
A fellow doctor from the project explained: “I realized this is not defensive work; this is offensive work. The most frequent instruction we obtained from Doctor Basson…was to develop something with which you could kill an individual which would make his death resemble a natural death, and that something was not to be detectable in a normal forensic laboratory.” Was this outrageous claim really true, though?
Piles of People
After the apartheid government fell, a lot of files came out regarding the army operations of the time. Wouter was tied to an event that killed around 200 prisoners of war from Namibia. Allegedly, they were injected with muscle relaxers and poured into the ocean from above in a helicopter.
What's more, these prisoners were used as test subjects and abandoned to die in rural areas. Even Nelson Mandela the prisoner seems to have been a target, with an attempt to subtly poison his meds! How on earth would the medical doctor justify this in front of a future judge?
Party Like It's 1991
Despite efforts to preserve the status quo for decades, it became obvious at some point that a change was coming. Project Coast began to wind down, but Wouter had another idea lined up and ready to go.
It was time to channel the lab's efforts into new ventures. And the first order of business was producing ecstasy, also known as MDMA in 1991. Sure, there was probably demand for the increasingly popular pill in the city clubs back then. Was this just the average dangerous party drug, though?
Managing Mobs
No, it was another devious attempt to pacify the black masses! Some of the low-level researchers thought they were making rocket fuel. Others were notified they were creating “crowd control” substances, which was the reality.
Wouter hoped to make the 98% pure MDMA into a spray for big groups of people to stop them from rebelling. Oddly, a huge amount of the tablets were later found on the black market. The doctor sold this to drug dealers! In fact, he personally had 1000 pills on him when he was arrested. How would he explain all of this to the world?
Horrors Revealed
Many today struggle to understand the horror of Project Coast, and Wouter's explanation was not exactly part of a healing process when he began to speak a lot in public.
In 2016, he showed a similar attitude: “I’m not going to say I did it because I was told to...Some of it I wasn’t. I am not going to hide. It was my job, and whatever I did was not wrong. I am surprised and amazed at the hysteria surrounding my case.” How does Wouter see himself, in the context of the larger South African story?
A Loyal Soldier?
The top cardiologist seems to have a clear conscience when it comes to the Hippocratic oath of "do no harm" he took to enter the profession. He doesn't seem to see a conflict, even now!
According to Wouter, "They said doctors shouldn’t get involved, but I was a soldier like any other doing my job. If you want to attack me or associate me with what happened in the army, then you must also look to more than 3,000 other doctors who did national service and willingly fired weapons at people.” Would the modern court buy this, though?
The Trial Begins
The new state decided to press forward, as the public surely demanded. Wouter explained: “My defense in court will be the truth. Whatever I did, I did because it was correct at the time...What I did was for the good of the country, for things like crowd control."
The trial was set for 1999, and he was charged with 67 offenses and 229 murders. But the list quickly got cut by a judge! The charges in the deaths of 200 Namibians were thrown out because they did not take place in the country, right away. What about the rest, though?
The Verdict Decided
Other charges included drug possession and trafficking, embezzlement, theft, and fraud. Most of this was based on his direct work as head of Project Coast, of course.
After a 3 year trial, the judge ruled that the prosecution fell short of proving the case “beyond a reasonable doubt.” And then, the rest of the charges were dismissed! Do other South African institutions outside that courtroom acknowledge the depravity involved here?
Trial, Take Two
Why, yes they do. Because Wouter Basson was a registered medical doctor in the country, the relevant national board decided to pursue a different case against him. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) announced they sought to hold him accountable in 2006.
They filed 7 charges against Wouter for a number of crimes during Project Coast, and they succeeded! The cardiologist might never practice medicine again in South Africa, it seemed. Wouter was found guilty on four counts of unprofessional conduct. But would it stick, in this country?
Just Taking Orders
It looked like Wouter Basson got away with all his crimes, which baffled so many. As the only witness in his own case, he admitted to terrible conduct. Some say the judge was on his side, and let him claim he was just an effective soldier trying to help the country.
Victims only started to get a bit of solace when it looked like his medical license would at least be revoked. Not nearly enough, it was some accountability. But wait, it wasn't over! How did Wouter get out of this in the end, too?
Guilty as Charged
Yes, the HPCSA found Dr. Wouter Basson guilty on all four counts. Clearly, there was at least a little bit of unprofessional conduct during Project Coast! Some would even say crimes against humanity, in fact.
And yet, things started to get messy before any permanent consequences for Wouter could take place. In 2014, sentencing was postponed because of the alleged unavailability of counsel. Yes, the claim was now that this man had no lawyer. Was this yet another dirty trick by the same people running the new system?
The Great Escape
It seems that in 2019, the answer was yes. Now six years after the doctor was found guilty of unethical conduct, a High Court ruled there was too much bias in his case. And therefore, the verdict was set aside entirely!
Was the hearing at the HPCSA irregular and unfair? Did the committee members show a total disregard for the defendant's rights? Today, a resolution is far from over for victims of Project Coast. And in fact, Dr. Wouter is still a top heart doctor in South Africa! Will Dr. Death ever see real punishment? The sad saga continues, day by day.