Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The defence force could not provide clarity on Friday as to whether the SA National Museum of Military History had legally or illegally obtained four military vehicles seized on Thursday.

"That forms part of our investigation," said spokesman Lt-Col Louis Kirstein.

The museum's director and two curators, meanwhile, were released from custody on Friday afternoon without being charged, following their arrest for the possession of "suspected stolen" military equipment.

"The prosecutor declined to prosecute and they were released," said Northern Flagship Institute chief executive officer Makgolo Makgolo.

The SA National Defence Force declined to comment on the discharge.

Director John Keen and curators Richard Henry and Susanne Blendulf were arrested at their workplace in Saxonwold, Johannesburg, on Thursday, handcuffed, and locked in police cells.

Keen, who was recovering from eye surgery, was moved from the cells to the Pretoria Eye Hospital at 5am on Friday, where he was held under police guard until the court appearance. The others remained in cells.

Military police raided the museum on Thursday after receiving information that it held "war-capable weapons and vehicles".

Police apparently told museum staff that some of the arms and vehicles on display were shown on military records to have been destroyed.

They confiscated an Eland 60, and Eland 90 and a Ferret -- all light armoured vehicles, as well as a Ratel infantry fighting vehicle. They were worth an estimated R120 million.

Investigators apparently also threatened to return to seize a G5 towed cannon, a G6 self-propelled cannon and an array of light arms.

Institute for Security Studies defence sector programme head, Len le Roux, said a disposal process existed whereby the military got rid of its superfluous equipment.

Applications to acquire such equipment were adjudicated by a disposal board.

Kirstein could not say if that process was followed in this case, or what the outcome was. He could also not confirm that the confiscated weapons were recorded as "destroyed".

"All of this forms part of the investigation," he said.

Asked if the arrests and confiscations were not premature in that case, Kirstein said military police procedure allowed for a person's arrest on the mere suspicion that he or she possessed stolen goods.

According to SANDF information, he added, the equipment seized was in working order "meaning they can be used for the purpose they are intended for".

The museum's acting director Sandy Mckenzie said the four vehicles had been disarmed. Most of the small arms under threat of confiscation, including pistols, machine guns and rifles, had been disabled -- except for "one or two" that had just came into the museum's possession.

"This is just bizarre," she said. "We are academics. What are we going to do with armoured vehicles?

All the contested items were recorded on the museum's acquisition books -- some since 1947.

The confiscated Ratel came out of the Angolan war, and many of the small arms were antiques and irreplaceable.

Mckenzie and Makgolo said the defence force's concerns were never raised, and Thursday's raid came "out of the blue".

Describing the arrests as humiliating, Makgolo said: "To my knowledge, each and every collection in the museum has been legally acquired".

"Everything in the museum is an asset of the state. I don't think the state can keep anything that is stolen."

Le Roux said there was no reason why discarded military items should not be kept in a museum, provided they were disabled and the correct disposal procedures were followed.

"There is no reason to destroy military equipment when it can be displayed in a museum to showcase a part of our history."

Le Roux added that a disarmed armoured vehicle "is no more dangerous than a bulldozer or any other heavy vehicle in the wrong hands".

The Democratic Alliance described the incident as heavy-handed and proof that "there is apparently no end to the government's paranoia".

The matter could have been dealt with in a more responsible and amicable manner, the party said.

"It is an administrative and logistical matter that should have been dealt with accordingly."

Kirstein said the fate of the four confiscated vehicles, currently in possession of the SANDF, would be determined by the outcome of the military police probe.

The cannons would be removed from the museum later, possibly on Monday, and the small arms would be confiscated if the investigation so required.