ul , " " TABLE OF COIU""~"'IfI~ Introduction y Larold K. Schulz C pt r 1 A BI 'S EYE VIEW or 'SOUTH AFRICA C pt r 11 A lCAN WAGES Ch pter III THE lAWS' WHICH AFRICAN Wv&u\'»~ HAVE TO LABO I .SOUTH lCA C pter IV THE H LANDS - YES 0 01 C ter V CAN co 0 TIONS 00 ANYTHI G1 Chapter VI S CAS STUDIES Chapter VII THE WITHDRAWAL ARG TS Ch pter VIII AC ISTlAN ASSESSMENT Footnotes Photo Credits Tim Smith nd Peggy Hal y fo t 1 Actio INTRODUCTION There has been much discussion during the past decade reg rding the South African ystem of apartheid. Apartheid is the nam for the policy of r ci 1 separ tion practiced by the Government of South Africa. It is y te tic political and economic di crimin tion practiced gain t non­ European groups who compo e the va t jority of the population of South Africa. The debate focuses not only on the y tem, which most person in this country oppose, but also on the policy of this country and our repre- ent tives in busines and indu try toward the system nd the government which enforces it. The churches have joined in the debate for at least two re son, Fir t, bec use the Go pel requires that we have concern for nd assist those who re oppreased.("Set at liberty the captives.") Secondly, bee use faithfulne s require that we be good steward of our resource ,we re called to examine the impact of those re ource upon the live of other. Since the church has ome of its re ource inve ted in corporations which do busine in South Afric • it i necess ry for u to examine carefully the role which those in­ vestment have in maintaining the y te tic oppre sion which i carried on in th t country. I have participated in the debate over th p t ten year and have per­ so lly co to the conclusion that the continued inv t nt and involve nt of for ign corporation in South Africa trengthens the p rtheid sy tem and und rgird the oppre sion of th bl ck jority in that country. It w s not a decision ea 1ly arrived at nd it c me after much study nd thought. How­ ever, I believe it i right. The Council for Christi n Social Action of the United Church of Christ has de the same deci ion. Since the Council i de up of per on with differing political and theological po ition , th re has been uch discussion, study, analysi and ome di agreement. However, the CCSA po ition cle rly c 11 on United States corporations doing busines in South Afric to withdraw. The following document bas been written to assi t other to under tand the b i for the CCSA position. Don Morton, the uthor, iCon ultant on African Affairs to the Council. He is an ord in d Methodi telergy n, tive of South Afric who i now in exile in this country to which he barely escaped 1 t year fter h ving worked clo ely with bl ck South Africans in their trug­ gle for liberation nd ju tice. Some of the material in the document is ex­ tracted from a longer tudy co issioned by the CCSA nd prepared for the Council by Jennifer D vi ,B rbara Roger and George Shepherd, a Council mem­ ber. Thi study will be publi hed in book form under the title The Company We Keep. There are several comments which I am compelled to make in an wer to critici of the CCSA position. There are those who state that withdraw 1 i impractical; and th t if it happened, there would be other corporation from other countries eager to move in who would not have the "moral concerns" or "sensitivity" whic~ U.S. companies have. Therefore, they believe conditions would beco worse. This is a specious argument. Two wrongs do not make·a right. It is similar to stating th t if 1 do not push drugs, someone else, less humane than I, will do it. If it is wrong to do business with apartheid, then it is wrong no matter who does it. This is similar to the argument used by tho e who ugge ted that we do business with the Nazis during Hitler's rise to power in the 30' ince we then could have some influence on hi ystem. Or it wa al 0 the argument put forth by the "reformer" during the period of slavery preceding the Civil W r. They held that efforts should be made to improve the living and working conditions for the slaves and that it wa moral for "Chri~tians" to be slaveholders since they would be much more humane than .tnon-Christians." e nwhile the aboli hionist st ted clearly that any colla~ boration with slavery was wrong nd those who tried to improve the lot of the slaves were D upporting a ystem which was wrong and evil. On the other hand, it 1s not necessarily true that non-U.S. companies would be more oppres ive. Studies show that the u.s. corporation's w ges, fringe benefits and working condition are not lway superior to other in­ vestor '. For ex mple, the Anglo-Americ n Mining Corporation owned by South Africans pay better w ges and has better working conditions than do American owned comp nies. Actually the argument evades responsibility. As Americans we should try to effect our foreign policy nd business practices and not moralize about what the French, Japane e or British may do. In addition, U.S. withdrawal would be a critical setback for the South African Government economically, politically and psychologically, and it is doubtful if other investments could overcome such a move and the instability which it would create. We also have been questioned about whether we advoc te a '~lood revolu­ tion." No, we do not advocate it. I personally believe in the pow~r of non­ violence. I could see the power of a Ghandi n or Martin Luther King, Jr. type non-violent revolution overcoming the present system. It is unlikely to happen though until the conditions make people recognize that they have nothing to lose by resistence. As long as U.S. corporations continue to hold out fal e hopes for change, it will be difficult to mount such an organized campaign. Tho e who advocate gradualism seem to miss the forest for the trees. In­ creased wages will benefit a few but the system will be undergirded to the detriment of the many. It 1s the system, like slavery, which must be broken, not whether some will enjoy temporary and fal~e hopes from higher wage and better working conditions. South Africa is a self-contained, economic, political and military-police state in which a minority of white persons control the lives of non-whites. The system of apartheid denies non-Europeans the rights of ownership, movement, organization and expression. The provisions for migratory labor dehumanize individuals and ruin family life. The government depends upon foreign capital to maintain the economy ,to legitimize and to undergird the apartheid system by providing the resources to stifle dissent, carryon police action (including brutality and torture) and maintain the forced separation of the races. In 1971 the Eighth General Synod of the United Church of Christ urged corporation to challenge the repre in South Afric. In th cate that U.S. bu in stead c be n ) have it. In the For this reason th CCSA believe that the United Church of Christ should utilize its ral and con ie pow r to press United Stat cor- poratl0 s to withdraw fro Soutb Africa. To this end, this doc t is d vailable to you. Larold K. Schulz Executive Director Council for Chri ti n Social Action June 1973 My pprecl tlon for the re rch on U.S. corpor tion done by Ta i Rult n a d ed Kr r; for ny fri d in South Africa who never g v up even though ve n b en arr ted; for Ti S lth' incr dible 1 dg of t ubj ct; nd for the t ri 1 for thi p r r arch d by J nny Davi and rb ra oger. **** In grateful appreci tion to the 1 te John C. Shinn, C ir n of the Council for Chri ti Soc! 1 etio w 0 beli v d t t with­ dr wal w the proper policy d to t t nd g ¥ tro g le der­ ship to the Cou cil for Chri ti n Soci 1 Actio ffort 0 thi concern. CHAPTER 1 - It A BIRO'S EYE VIEW OF SOUTH AFRICA" South Africa is a big, beautiful country of contr sts with a land rea greater than Tex s and california combined. The contra ts range from fern forest to dry deserts, from the purple cliffs of the Drakensberg Mountains to the white sands of Durb n's beaches, from the tranquility of lu h apple f rm to the hustle and bustle of ultra-modern citie like Johanne burg. So e two-thirds of the country w occupied by black tribes 600 years before the fir t white settler rrived. In 1652 the Dutch s ttled in th Cape area nd en laved local black inhabitant.