Automating Apartheid, U.S. Computer Exports to South Africa and the Arms Embargo
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Automating apartheid, U.S. computer exports to South Africa and the arms embargo http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.bmdv3 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Automating apartheid, U.S. computer exports to South Africa and the arms embargo Author/Creator NARMIC; American Friends Service Committee Publisher NARMIC, American Friends Service Committee Date 1982-00-00 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) United States, South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1977-1981 Rights By kind permission of the American Friends Service Committee. Description This pamphlet reviews the context and details of computer-related exports to South Africa, including their relevance for police and military applications. It includes detailed listings of companies, contracts, and computer installations. Format extent 120 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.bmdv3 http://www.aluka.org ................................ ................ ..... ................................ ................ ..... 77 77k Tl 'N rrx . Elf At: 7777 177-777 0to 4)of 00so 0 80 ot0** 000 0It 001%0490000 0 000 000 0Is0 000 0 6400000 0 00 0 0010a0000.141a00(ato 0 0 A 7 M,, rlca %af AiAROC IA n Friends Service Comrnift...ee The American Friends Service Committee is an independent Quaker organization that works for disarmament, human rights, justice and development in the United States and around the world. The goal of AFSC's work on Southern Africa is to build public awareness and action in this country for the total abolition of apartheid and for., self-determination of the peoples of Namibia and South Africa. The AFSC's Technical and Material Assistance Program for Southern Africa involves dozens of local communities in the region in development projects. For information about education and action on Southern Africa in this country, write to AFSC's Southern Africa Program, Peace Education Division, AFSC, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. For information about AFSC's development assistance in Southern Africa, write The Africa Program, International Dvision, AFSC, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. NARMIC is a research project of the AFSC's Peace Education Division. Established 12 years ago, NARMIC's early years were devoted to the effort to end the Vietnam War. Today NARMIC serves as an information clearinghouse, and develops action-oriented printed and audio-visual resources on a range of subjects, including US. intervention in the Third World, arms sales, nuclear disarmament, multinationals, the military-industrial complex, and US. support for repressive governments. Contributions to NARMIC are tax-deductible. AFSC Regional Offices Atlanta 92 Piedmont Avenue, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 * Baltimore 317 East 25th Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 9 Cambridge 2161 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140 * Chicago 407 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois 60605 e Dayton 915 Salem Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45406 0 Des Moines'4211 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa-50312 * New York 15 Rutherford Place, New York, New York 10003 * Pasadena 980 North Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, California 93301 9 San Francisco 2160 Lake Street, San Francisco, California 94121 9 Seattle 814 N.E. 40th Street, Seattle, Washington 98105 * Washington Washington Public Affairs Program, Davis House, 1822 R. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 AUTOMATING APARTHEID U.S. COMPUTER EXPORTS TO SOUTH AFRICA AND THE ARMS EMBARGO NARMIC/American Friends Service Committee NARMIC is a program of the American Friends Service Committee. NARMIC Staff: Thomas Conrad, Eva Gold, David Goodman, Mary Morrell; NARMIC Interns: Susan Benner, Rebekah Ray-Crichton, Marilyn Wood. Automating Apartheid is published in cooperation with the United Methodist Church Board of Global Ministries and the World Campaign Against Military and Nuclear Collaboration with South Africa. Project Director: Thomas Conrad. Design and layout: Eliza Drake. Printing: Omega Press, Philadelphia. Copies ofAutomating Apartheid are available from NARMIC, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. PRICES Nonprofit Institutions and Individuals 1-9 copies: $3.50 each plus 504 postage and handling for domestic orders (for overseas orders, add $1.50 for postage and handling); 10 or more copies: 40 percent discount (no returns); NARMIC will pay postage and handling on prepaid orders. Corporations and Others 1-9 copies: $10 each plus 50¢ postage and handling for domestic orders (for overseas orders, add $1.50 for postage and handling); 10 or more copies: 20 percent discount (no returns); NARMIC will pay postage and handling on prepaid orders. Copyright by NARMIC/American Friends Service Committee, 1982 ISBN 0- 910082-00-6 CONTENTS FOREWORD REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAM GRAY, III vi PREFACE vii 1. INTRODUCTION: THE ROOTS OF APARTHEID 1 2. PROGRAMMING OPPRESSION - U.S. COMPUTER COMPAINIES IN SOUTH AFRICA 6 3. ADMINISTERING APARTHIED - U.S. COMPUTER SUPPORT FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN REGIME 13 4. STREAMLINING THE SECURITY APPARATUS - COLLABORATION WITH THE POLICE ESTABLISHMENT 27 5. ARMING APARTHEID - HIGH-TECH EXPORTS FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S ARMED FORCES AND MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX 40 6. WHY THE EMBARGO ISN'T WORKING 61 NOTES AND DOCUMENTATION 78 APPENDICES AND TABLES I. Major U.S. Computer Companies in South Africa 89 II. U.S. Electronics Companies Operating Through South African Distributors 92 III. U.S. Computer Support for White-Controlled Regional and Local Agencies 97 IV. U.S. Computer Installations at Central Government Agencies and StateOwned Corporations 99 V. Sales of Equipment Made by U.S. Electronics and Computer Companies Through the State Tender Board 101 VI. Background on CSIR Affiliates Engaged in Military Work 102 FOREWORD NARMIC has broken new ground with Automating Apartheid by ferreting out links between U.S. corporations and Pretoria that have never seen the light of day. This report is a vital new contribution to the public debate on U.S. involvement in South Africa. Automating Apartheid gives a closeup look at the way advanced U.S. technology enables the racist policy of apartheid to be implemented with a high degree of precision. How important is high-tech equipment from the United States to Pretoria? As this new study helps to show, U.S. corporations are outfitting apartheid's practicioners with the very tools they need to implement, maintain and defend this inhuman system. White-ruled South Africa has compensated for its lack of sufficient personnel to run the apartheid system by relying on the resources of a vast array of computers and electronics from U.S. corporations. This study shows that the only major U.S. policy taken in opposition to apartheid - the arms embargo - has been seriously subverted and, in fact, has been made a mockery. Computers and high-tech exports represent but one part of a total of $2.6 billion of U.S. investment in South Africa. It is virtually impossible to control how any U.S. products are used once they reach South Africa. As long as sales of advanced technology to South Africa continue, we must assume that Pretoria will use it for strategic and repressive purposes. At the very least, further investment by U.S. firms in data processing products in South Africa should be firmly prohibited. Time in South Africa is surely running out and when it does, the quality of American relations with that country-including the impact of those relations on the black majority - will be held up to scrutiny. Sooner or later, we will be judged as to whether we conducted our affairs with South Africa in a way which enhanced the participation of the majority population in their society. We will be judged as to whether we were on the right side of freedom, or partners in the crime of racism. William Gray, III U.S. House of Representatives PREFACE The same U.S. corporations that have desegregated the lunchrooms in their South African facilities as a result of public pressure in the United States are still outfitting the Pretoria government with advanced computers, electronic components and other sophisticated technology. Although pressure on U.S. corporations doing business in South Africa has increased dramatically over the past ten years, much of the debate has focused on the companies' employment practices. In response to public criticism, Reverend Leon Sullivan and other leaders developed a business code of conduct, calling for the desegregation of U.S. corporate facilities in South Africa and pressing for fair treatment of blacks. The "Sullivan Principles," as they have come to be called, have received strong support from the U.S. government, won acclaim in business circles, and have been emulated by corporations in other countries. Although the Sullivan Principles have been hailed by some activists as a step in the right direction, they have done little to change the structural causes of oppression in South Africa. Moreover, much of the discussion of the employment code, and the effort devoted to monitoring the signators' compliance with it, have tended to channel public attention away from one of the most critical aspects of U.S.