The Ministry of Defence of South Africa has unwittingly left out of the bag the existence of a secret spy satellite project that has been kept under wraps for years.
Secretary of Defence Sam Gulube, lifted the veil on the “military satellite”, said to be Africa’s only top secret spy satellite when he referred to it under parliament’s portfolio committee on defence.
The South African government machinery has been in over drive to cover up the project following an admission regarding its existence parliament.
This spy satellite is considered one of the department of defence’s items of “fruitless and wasteful expenditure” as Gulube describe it, adding that this spy satellite project had undergone revisions and was “now on the verge of success”.
The Department of State Security and Department of Defence both declined to corroborate Gulube’s disclosure.
Sphiwe Dlamini, Defence Force spokesman, insisted that the project and details thereof were classified.
Reports say the cost of the spy satellites could increase from R200 million to R1.4 billion due to postponement of the launch date of the spy satellite until later this year.
They claim that the spy satellite project was initially code named “Project Flute” and later changed to “Project Consolidated Flute.”