“German Gunmaker Looks to South African Exports", 26 Dec 2014

German government restrictions on arms exports are squeezing the country’s defense industry. But weapons maker Rheinmetall AG is sidestepping politicians in Berlin by investing in a new munitions development center in South Africa.Germany’s biggest defense company...confirmed earlier reports it plans to establish through its majority-owned South African joint venture, Rheinmetall-Denel Munition Ltd., a facility near Cape Town...Plans for the new South African plant come during an arms-export policy review by Germany’s economics ministry that has held up licenses for Rheinmetall and other companies that sell weaponry to countries outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with dubious human rights records...Policy experts and financial analysts say the new South African munitions center...would allow Rheinmetall to continue selling weapons to controversial governments in the Middle East, despite stricter German arms export controls...Denel, once the main sources of armaments for South Africa’s apartheid regime, pioneered equipment including armored personnel carriers that are widely used in the Middle East today...