UK Companies and Their Subsidiary Or Related Companies in South Africa and Namibia
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UK companies and their subsidiary or related companies in South Africa and Namibia http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.aam00025 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 UK companies and their subsidiary or related companies in South Africa and Namibia Author/Creator Anti-Apartheid Movement Publisher Anti-Apartheid Movement Date 1988-06-00 Resource type Pamphlets Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa, United Kingdom, Namibia Coverage (temporal) 1988 Source AAM Archive Rights By kind permission of the AAM Archives Committee. Description List of British companies with South African and Namibian subsidiaries Format extent 64 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.aam00025 http://www.aluka.org UK COMPANIES UK COMPANIES AND THEIR SUBSIDIARY OR RELATED COMPANIES IN SOUTH AFRICA AND NAMIBIA IT-boycott of 1 Shell linked Published by the ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT June 1988 Price £2.00 British Investment in South Africa For the past century, capital supplied from the UK has been instrumental in the development of South Africa's extractive, manufacturing and financial services industries. Although originally attracted be the discovery of diamonds and gold, British capital investment has expanded into all areas of the apartheid economy making Britain now the largest foreign investor in South Africa accounting for around 40% of all overseas capital in the country. This consists of either direct investment (in plant, factories, subsidiaries), or indirect investment (in portfolio shareholdings in other companies). In addition British financial institutions have over £7 billion worth of outstanding loans in South Africa, making them the largest lenders to apartheid in the world. The huge stake that British firms now have in South Africa means that not only are they profiting from the injustices of the apartheid system, but they are actively contributing to its survival. The South African economy is geared towards maintaining the economic and military superiority of the white minority regime over the people of South Africa and over the Southern African region as a whole; foreign companies operating in South Africa help to keep the economy's wheels turning. Foreign investment is, in itself, vitally important for the survival of the apartheid economy. South Africa simply does not have the resources to supply all its capital needs without foreign inputs. But foreign investment also brings with it the new technology, professional expertise and skills, and overseas connections which enable the white minority regime to maintain its control over the reins of the economy. Because of the particular role which foreign investment plays in supporting the apartheid system, and in response to calls from the liberation movements in Southern Africa, the Anti-Apartheid Movement campaigns for the complete withdrawal of all foreign firms from South Africa and Namibia as part of its wider efforts to secure the total isolation of apartheid and the implementation of comprehensive sanctions. The Company List The main section of this document (Table 1) lists UK parent companies and their South African-registered subsidiaries or associates, together with financial and employee information (where known). A subsidiary is a firm whose shares are more than 50% held by the parent company; an associate or related company is 10%-50% owned by another company. Even a minority stake often gives effective managerial control over an associate company. It should be noted that the number of subsidiaries which a parent company has or its financial results are not necessarily a guide to the importance of a company's activities for the apartheid economy. For example, although a firm may have a relatively small turnover in South Africa, it may still be engaged in activities vital for the apartheid state such as providing components for the South African military. The nature of corporate involvement in South Africa is not covered in this document. This list should be used therefore as a first source indicating whether companies have South African operations, and as the basis for further research. The AAM can provide further assistance in this area. The list has been compiled from information supplied by companies themselves, press reports, AAM files and a variety of other sources. As far as possible it has been updated to May 1988. The precarious economic situation in South Africa coupled with worldwide disinvestment pressure has resulted in substantial and on-going changes within the South African corporate sector over the past two years. As the AAM report, The South African Disconnection* has shown, over one fifth of UK companies with South African subsidiaries in 1986 have subsequently withdrawn. Many others have partially disinvested or reduced their holdings. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in the Company List, the AAM can bear no responsibility for errors. Table 2 lists UK companies with interests in Namibia. Namibia has been illegally occupied by South Africa since 1966. In 1974 Decree No 1 of the United Nations:Council For Namibia declared the extraction and marketing of Namibia's natural resources to be illegal as long as the South African occupation continued. Companies engaged in these and associated sectors are therefore breaking international law. Information in this section is largely derived from company questionaires and from a Labour Research Department survey. Table 3 lists UK companies which, despite being subsidiaries of overseas corporations, are the relevant company responsible for South African interests. The financial and employee information refers to the South African operations which the UK company manages. * The South African Disconnection - An Examination of British Company Withdrawals from South Africa 1986-88. April 1988. £5.00. KEY A Associate company (shareholding of less than 50%) D Dormant company (still registered and potentially with assets but not trading) n/a Information not available or not applicable E AAM estimates ( ) Loss Turnover: Turnover of operations in South Africa and/or Namibia. Refers to year 1986-87 except where otherwise specified. Information taken directly or estimated from company reports or financial analyses. Profit: Contribution to pre-tax profits from South African and/or Namibian operations. Refers to 1986-87 except where specified. Employees: Number of employees in South Africa and/or Namibia. Information taken from company returns under the EEC Code of Conduct for Companies with South African Interests as of June 1987. Many companies either fail to report or refuse to provide details of employees in associates thereby underestimating employee numbers. TABLE 1. UK COMPANIES AND THEIR SOUTH AFRICAN SUBSIDIARIES AND RELATED COMPANIES ABBEY LIFE GROUP PLC Abbey Life Investment (Pty) Ltd D ALLIED LYONS PLC Aspen Wines (South Africa) D John Harvey & Sons (South Africa) (Pty) ANDREW WEIR & CO Turnover £ n/a Profit £ n/a Employees 0 Turnover £ n/a Profit £ n/a Employees 0 Turnover £ n/a Profit £ n/a Employees n/a Bank Line (South Africa) APASEAL HOLDINGS LTD Turnover £ n/a Profit £ n/a Employees 0 Apaseal SA (Pty) D APV BAKER PLC Turnover £15m E Profit £ 6m E Employees 849 APV Hall (SA) APV Kestner (SA) (Pty) APV Searle Bush APV Services Africa APV South Africa Baker Perkins South Africa (Pty) Ltd Nelson Roads Properties (Pty) Solar Systems ASSOCIATED OCTEL CO LTD Turnover £ n/a Profit £ n/a Employees n/a Associated Octel Co (South Africa) (Pty) BAT INDUSTRIES PLC Turnover £ 140m E Profit £ 15m E Employees 4139 (All companies non-trading except *) African Guarantee & Indemnity Co Alshain (Pty) Amsterhouse (Natal)(Pty) Benson & Hedges (Pty) British African Properties Brown & Williamson Tobacco (Pty) Carlton Cigarette Co (Pty) Charles Morgan & Co Africa (Pty) Commando (Pty) Damascus Confectioners (Pty) Distinctive Marketing (Pty) Eagle Star Co of South Africa Eagle Star House (Johannesburg) Easey (Pty) * Freshup Pure Fruit Juices (Pty) Gonubie Investments (Pty) International Tobacco Co John Player & Sons (Pty) Kalabon Investments (Pty) Lambert & Butler Lautrec & Cie SA (Pty) Mundel & Herzfeld (Pty) New Centre Investments (Pty) Phoenix Foods (Pty) Piccadilly Mansions (Pty) Precision Engineering Co (1946)(Pty) SA Fire House Scandia Paper Industries (1977)(Pty) * South African Eagle Insurance Co (Pty) South African Fire & Accident Insurance Co (Pty) Tarazed (Pty) Threadneedle Properties SA * United Tobacco