845A.2546/12–850
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State1
Subject: Conversation with Dr. T. E. Donges, South African Minister of Interior
| Participants: | The Secretary |
| Dr. T. E. Donges, South African Minister of Interior | |
| Mr. Jooste, the South African Ambassador | |
| BNA—Mr. Shullaw |
Dr. Donges, the South African Minister of Interior, accompanied by Ambassador Jooste called on me today. Dr. Donges began the conversation by referring to the recently concluded contract negotiations between representatives of the United States, The United Kingdom and South Africa on uranium procurement.2 He said that during these negotiations South Africa had purposely refrained from introducing the question of a special position for South Africa in the atomic energy field. He said that he would not go into details but that briefly South Africa was seeking not necessarily “membership in the club” but perhaps an “associate membership”. Dr. Donges added that he had had a conversation on this subject with Mr. Perkins and would be seeing Mr. Gordon Dean before leaving Washington. It was his hope that the Atomic Energy Commission would be able to indicate what the United States could offer South Africa and that discussions could then proceed from this point. I expressed our gratification that the contract negotiations had been successfully concluded and said that I was certain something could be worked out on the problem mentioned by Dr. Donges.
[Here follows discussion of various issues before the United Nations which involved South Africa.]
- Drafted by J. Harold Shullaw of the Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs.↩
- On November 23 a memorandum containing Heads of Agreement was signed in Johannesburg by representatives of the Combined Development Agency and the South African Atomic Energy Board. The memorandum, which dealt with contractual arrangements, is not printed. (Department of State Atomic Energy Files)↩