On Thursday an A400M military transport plane, carrying a donation of medical supplies arrived in Cape Town. A second arrived later that day while a third and fourth aircraft on Saturday. At least one more aircraft is expected in the next day or two to pick up what Turkish ambassador Elif Ülgen explained was “some kind of military ammunition” purchased from Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM). Only the first arrived with medical supplies on board.

The aircraft were only on the ground for a few hours before returning to Turkey.

Ülgen said she wasn’t aware of the details but said much of the outbound cargo was destined for practice and exercises by the Turkish military. The Covid-19 lockdown has been relaxed in Turkey as recovery numbers have started overtaking new infections. Ülgen said Turkey started doing business with RDM two years ago.

Industry insiders have raised questions over whether this kind of export is permitted under South Africa’s strict lockdown, which has seen movements of cargo restricted mainly to essentials such as food and medical necessities. But Ülgen said the necessary permissions for the sale and export were already done before lockdown.

The supplies are destined for the Machinery and Chemical Industry Institution (MKE) which deals with explosives and ammunition and processes these for the Turkish ministry of defence. “They called me and said they were desperate because the deal was to receive them at the beginning of March”, she said. Since the cargo is explosives, they have to be transported in military aircraft, but when the airspace across Africa went into lockdown, flyover permissions became difficult to obtain.

Read more: Daily Maverick