unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/21/89)
Israel, Germany, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Switzerland.
Voluntary embargo: Although the UN approved a voluntary
international oil embargo in 1973, South Africa has found
exporters who supply about 220,000 barrels of oil daily to the
country. Observers agree that oil is really the only raw
material that South Africa must import. South Africa's oil
reserves are a closely guarded secret.
Saudi shipments: Though denied by the Saudis, Saudi Arabia is
responsible for the brunt of oil exports to South Africa,
contends the Shipping Research Bureau (SRB) in Amsterdam. Since
the shipments are unofficial and unrecorded, South Africa is a
convenient place to dump oil in violation of OPEC quotas, says
the SRB.
Bearing pain of sanctions; Blacks hurt but see need (WorldPaper,
September, 1989 1424 words, BYLINE: JOYCE DUBE Johannesburg)
HIGHLIGHT: South Africa's legislative election in September is
expected to confirm as president F. W. de Klerk who took over
after the surprise resignation of P. W. Botha last month and
whose remarks about negotiating with the black majority have
raised hopes of solving that country's bitter racial struggle.
The South African writers and artists in this WorldPaper will
have no vote under apartheid. They are black. But in this issue
they are free to tell their tales. BODY: "WE HAVE TO BE CRUEL to
be kind," says Helen Molefe, a black who works in the
advertising department of Drum Publications in Johannesburg.
She refers to the international economic sanctions which
opponents of apartheid hope will pressure the white government
to change its ways. Critics such as Margaret Thatcher, the
British prime minister, contend that they will hurt the black
community more than the minority in power, especially since 40
percent of Afrikaner adults work outside the private economy and
for the government.
To those who take the latter line, Molefe says:
"People have to suffer to achieve their liberation. Sanctions
will pressure the government to bring about meaningful change. I
am not referring to those cosmetic changes like multiracial
hotels and restaurants. Meaningful changes will be equal
distribution of wealth and a government that has been decided
upon by the people."
Sanctions have hurt blacks. Frederick J. Du Plessis, a chairman
of Sanlam, a giant Afrikaner insurance enterprise, said
sanctions have forced the loss of 10,000 black jobs in the coal
industry. Skilled black auto mechanics still hunt jobs in Port
Elizabeth, where New Brighton township has a 55 percent
unemployment rate since the US auto maker General Motors pulled
out in 1986.
The issues of sanctions and of divestment by international
companies in the stumbling South African economy have divided
blacks and whites.
"It is common knowledge that blacks are victims of retrenchments
because of their lack of skills," says Phumi Manduna, who
recommends sponsorship of scholarships to community projects by
ISM, the local computer company that took over after the US
giant IBM became one of about 200 US Firms that have pulled out
of South Africa since violence erupted in October 1984 and
eventually triggered imposition of a three-year-old state of
emergency.
"Whites can hop from one job to the other. Sanctions will never
work in South Africa because international business has
interests in this country. Business people will go to any
lengths to secure what is of benefit to them.
"The most influential people are the rich. And the rich work
closely to protect their wealth. So how can you convince the
moneymakers to stop generating wealth from South Africa?
"Politicians who advocate sanctions should have looked at local
giant companies first. They are the ones who should have been
pressurized to force the government for change.
"For instance, Harry Oppenheimer is one of the wealthiest
businessmen in the country. He and his peers can influence the
South African government to dismantle apartheid. They have a
much stronger say than anyone outside the country."
Oppenheimer, 80, the son of the founder, controls the Anglo
American Corporation, South Africa's largest.
Economic protests against apartheid take two forms. One is
international sanctions. The US Senate voted 79-21 on Oct 2,
1986, to override a Ronald Reagan veto of a South Africa act
that barred new loans, new investment, direct flights between
the countries of US and South African airlines, the export of
crude oil and the import of Krugerrand gold coins, food
products, iron, steel, coal and sugar.
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, India, the Soviet Union and other
socialist-bloc countries have imposed a total trade boycott,
although some trade is carried out through third parties.
Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, and West Germany all impose a range of restrictions on
sales and credit.
Partly as a result, in constant 1980 prices, South Africa's
exports declined by over $ 2 billion, imports declined more than
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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