t~ American Committee On Africa ~:, / 198 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10038/ (212) 962-1210 I Cable AMCOMMAF . ' : ' j:1L· J South African Propaganda in the United States by Dumisani s. Kumalo On February 23, Baskin and Sears, a law firm representing the South African government in the United States announced that it was cancelling its $500 000 contract with the apartheid regime. The announcement was made by Phillip Baskin, the senior partner of the firm, after the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) produced United States Justice Department records showing Baskin and Sears had been hired for propaganda purposes. ACOA made public information that a number of leading politicians, including New York City's Mayor Edward Koch and Democratic presidential frontrunner, former Vice President Walter Mondale, had received funds from a registered agent of the South African government. When Pittsburgh's Tam Flaherty learned of the South African contract, he demanded that his city cancel its dealings with Baskin and Sears. This led to the decision about the cancelling of the apartheid contract by the law firm. Details of the Baskin and Sears submission to the Justice Department made the nature of their responsibilities very clear. They were hired: ' (i) to lobby, represent, advise and assist in the promotion Executive Director: ie>nni!Pr D,1\ '': As!KlCiate Director: P,1u: I'''"; Research: C.1:: Hn'.e\; Projects: Dur'11,,1n, l<.:un~.l'" 1 literature: R:r·hard Kn:~n: $• of the political, economic and cultural objectives of the South African government in the US; (ii) to improve the image of the South African government in the United States in order to strengthen the longstanding friendship between the two countries; (iii) to promote South African exports to the United States, to promote American investments in South Africa and to assist the South African government in obtaining loans in the US; (iv) to assist in arranging contacts with United States government officials, members of Congress, and other opinion makers in the us; (v) to advise and counsel the South African government on matters of US foreign policy and domestic policy which could affect US-South Africa relations; (vi) to establish, assist and advise US bodies and organizations which have as their objectives the promotion of better US-South African relationships; (vii) to perform such other legal services as deemed necessary, appropriate and practicable; and (viii) to be available to assist the South African Ambassador in Washington with any and all of his responsibilities. John Sears, who was Ronald Reagan's campaign manager in 1980, has already announced that a new company will be formed to represent South Africa. This kind of maneuvering is typical of those who represent and support apartheid. All across the country, south Africa has its own government representatives and 2 hired agents to lobby for its apartheid cause. The major focus of their work has been to fight the divestment movement which has united Americans of all races and political persuasions, thereby mounting the most formidable opposition South Africa has ever faced in the US. THE DIVESTMENT MOVEMENT IN THE US In March 1980, the divestment movement got a big boost when Nebraska's Senator Ernest Chambers introduced a resolution calling on the Nebraska Investment Council to review the list of corporations and banks in which state funds were invested and remove from the list those companies investing in South Africa. The resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority. On April 11, 1980, the Rand Daily Mail, a Johannesburg newspaper underscored the importance of the Nebraska action and warned in an editorial: "The South African divestment vote by Nebraska is ominous. As we reported yesterday, not only is it the first time an individual state has taken such action, but Nebraska is mid western and conservative. Its vote could well set a bandwagon rolling with incalculable consequences." At the end of 1983, twenty-five states and several cities had either passed or were considering legislation even more binding than the Nebraska resolution. In three states, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Michigan, and major cities such as Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, public funds were withdrawn from corporations dealing with South Africa and put into alternative holdings which were prudent as required by law and in same cases even more profitable. This year more bills are pending around the country, making divestment the biggest threat to apartheid in the United 3 States. The Nebraska bill came at a time South Africa was embroiled in a propaganda scandal. The Department of Information had spent more than $100-million in the United States, buying influence. Two major newspapers, the now defunct Washington Star and the Sacramento Union, were to be purchased with South African government funds. The press referred to the scandal as Muldergate after Connie Mulder, Minister of Information. Mulder was forced to resign together with Prime Minister John vorster, and Eschel Rhoodie, Secretary for Information, who was convicted for stealing same of the propaganda money. Since then, South Africa has launched a new propaganda strategy. Instead of spending millions in the US to convince Americans that apartheid is just, the regime is selecting influential personalities, especially elected officials and entertainers, and inviting them on government financed trips to visit South Africa. Such trips have increased since President Reagan came into office and introduced a policy of "constructive engagement" which supports apartheid. The reason South Africa has gone to such expensive lengths to win favor in America is because of its economic vulnerability. Any significant cut in foreign investment will have a devastating effect on apartheid. On January 20, 1983, Tom Vosloo, editor of the influential pro-government newspaper, Die Beeld, warned about the dangers of divestment in an editorial: "The pinpricks and irritations to Americans seeking new fields for investments are an itch which must not be allowed to become a nasty sore. If the State finds it necessary to make secret funds available for this purpose, they have my support as taxpayer." The fact that South Africa is spending secret money for propaganda purposes is not in dispute; the question, which can't be answered, is how much? Nevertheless, what is most fascinating is the increase in overt spending which ACOA has documented from reports filed with the US Department of Justice by registered apartheid agents and from letters written by the South African consular officials and from interviews around the country. Basically the South African apartheid strategy is to divide the dissemination of propaganda into three categories: (i) Organizing government paid and sponsored trips to South Africa for legislators from states debating divestment legislation; (ii) using South African consular officials to lobby personally or by writing letters; and (iii) Employing registered lobbyists and consultants such as John Sears, Ronald Reagan's former presidential campaign manager and former u.s. Senator George Smathers who was one of the main opponents of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. GOVERNMENT SPONSORED TRIPS (i) On March 13, 1981, five Wisconsin state legislators went to South Africa. They included State Representative Richard Matty (Republican-Crivitz). On his return, Representative Matty told the legislature that south Africa had segregated beaches because "blacks aren't intelligent enough and don't know how to clean after their own mess." When Rep. Matty was criticized for making a blatantly racist remark, he refused to apologize. Rep. Robert Behnke, who went on the same trip, issued a statement 5 contradicting Rep. Matty and also criticizing apartheid. Rep. Behnke said that Rep. Matty based his comments about beaches on "hearsay." (ii) On February 15 1983, three Illinois state senators and their wives went on the trip. Senator Roger Keats (Republican-Glencoe) came back singing the praises of apartheid. On March 10, he told the ~vilmette Life: "Before I went, I couldn't tell the difference between blacks, coloreds, whites and Indians. But I learned, for it makes a difference in society." Senator Keats added that whites, coloreds and Indians worked on "punctuality," but "blacks work on the idea of eventuality. Its a warm and pleasant county (sic) , they take their time. It makes the Mexicans look efficient." (iii) On September 2, 1983, five Nebraska senators also visited. The local press criticized the trip because the Nebraska State Retirement Systems Committee had recently voted for passage of a bill calling for the divestment of Nebraska pension funds from banks and corporations dealing with South Africa. Senator John DeCamp, who went on the trip came back and urged Nebraska to invest more money "to alleviate· the iniquitous system of apartheid." He added: "Instead of taking out $10-million, put in $100-million." He claimed that with expansion, there would not be enough whites to fill the.positions created and the industry would train blacks for those jobs. (iv) In September 1983, two Nevada legislators, Senator Nick Horn and Senator Bill Raggio spent 16 days in South Africa. On November 6, 1983, Ned Day, a columnist on the Las Vegas Review 6 Journal, commented: "Horn is a nice enough guy, a powerful state senator (D-Las Vegas) and a respected educator who works as an administrator at the community college. "He and State Senator Bill Raggio spent 16 days in South Africa, free-loading on and hobnobbing with the lilly-white industrial and political elites of that country. "And now he says that a proposed state law that would discourage Nevada businesses from doing business in South Africa would be, in his words, 'suicidal for blacks.' "That law was proposed by Senator Joe Neal in the last meeting of the Legislature. It lost by only three votes, a development that apparently alerted the South African officials, who now are moving_ smartly to make sure it doesn't come up again.