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Farhad Sepahbody:
Doing good work for a good cause at the United Nations following the Revolution
At the time, (1985) some Western diplomats were rather distressed with my
apartheid output below
Soon, stories on my work at the UN before and after the Iranian Revolution.
The United Nations Public Hearings on the Activities of
TransnatiOnal Corporations in South Africa and Namibia, scheduled for 16-20 September 1985
in New York, will examine the question of whether withdrawal, other forms of economic
sanctions, or continued involvement by transnational corporations, would bring more rapid
progress toward the elimination of apartheid in South Africa and the attainment of
independence for Namibia.
Under apartheid, South Africa has created a dual economy which includes a highly
developed industrial sector that provides for whites a standard of living often higher
than that obtained in Western countries.
The majority of the black population, however, has been restricted to overcrowded townships and homelands where subsistence farming keeps most living in utter poverty. The black population thus serves as a labour reserve for South Africa’s modern economy, but those that do find jobs within the ‘white" economy, are concentrated in the lowest paying jobs and have little opportunity for advancement.
Thus, while blacks in South Africa contribute to the high standards of living enjoyed by whites, they are denied both fundamental rights as citizens and the benefits of a modern society. The position of blacks under apartheid is thus analogous to that of perpetual aliens or visitors in the land of their birth, without any of the legal protections commonly available to aliens in most countries.
The statistics are revealing. South Africa has a population of over 31 million, of which some 26.5 million are classified as black or coloured. Eighty-seven per cent of the country's territory is reserved for whites, who comprise less than 16 percent of the population. The workforce numbers about 10 million, of which some 8.5 million are black or coloured. Transnational corporations employ about 600,000 people in South Africa, some 400,000 of whom are black or coloured. While they employ a relatively small segment of the black labour force, transnationals play a major role in key sectors of the South African economy, and consequently, in the maintenance of the economic and political advantages enjoyed by white South Africans.
There are 1,068 transnational corporations with affiliates
in South Africa. Of these, 406 were based in the United States, 364 in the United Kingdom,
and 142 in West Germany. Foreign investment in such key industries as mining, petroleum,
motor vehicles, chemicals, electronics, banking and financial services is considerable. In
recent years, transnational banks have increased their loans to private firms and to
state-run enterprises. Total direct foreign investment in 1983 is estimated to be between
15.5 and 17 billion dollars.
Since the 1950s, a government policy of self-reliance has been geared specifically towards
stimulating the growth of manufacturing,
and has relied heavily on foreign capital and technology to do so. Most of the foreign capital and technology has come from the transnationals, through direct investment, joint ventures or licensing. In the automotive industry, major manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, and Daimler-Benz, operate production plants. Five transnational corporations dominate the petroleum industry: Mobil, Caltex (a joint venture of Chevron and Texaco), British Petroleum, Royal Dutch/Shell and Total (a French company), own 85 per cent of the country’s retail outlets. In addition, they own three of the major refineries outright and a fourth in partnership with the government.
United Nations resolutions call on Member States to prohibit petroleum sales to South Africa and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) has called on its members to refrain from selling oil to that country. South Africa, however, has managed to circumvent many of the restrictions
Increased international censure of apartheid has forced the government of South Africa to try to become militarily self-sufficient. Large-scale efforts were made to develop the country’s armaments production and nuclear capability largely with the assistance oftransnational corporations through licenses and other inputs. An important element of the defense programme has been the creation of state-run enterprises, who have become major international borrowers and work closely with transnational corporations in the development of the armaments industry.
The pervasive presence of these transnational corporations has thus facilitated the development of an industrial economy geared to the needs of the white monority, as well as its protection through the build-up of a strong military capability. The extent to which South Africa has been successful in these endeavours is due in large part of the influx of foreign capital and investment including bank loans. While most developing countries have serious difficulties obtaining new loans, South Africa appears to have easy access to international credit, sometimes on extremely favourable terms.
While it has been hoped that the operations of transnational corporations would contribute to peaceful change in South Africa, the sad fact is that the situation has not gotten better, but worse. Blacks continue to die and suffer in virtual slavery. Nelson Mandela a prominent and seriously ill human rights activist has been for many years incarcerated in one South Africa's worst prisons. South Africa has been emboldened to step up military intervention against neighbouring states and has been able to stall the process of independence for Namibia. As international awareness of the continued repression in South Africa grows, so has the pressure on transnational corporations and on their home governments to act toward a real solution. There are essentially three viewpoints.
Some maintain that transnational corporations should continue their operations in South Africa in order to influence the process of peaceful change towards the abolition of apartheid. They argue that transnationals, which provide work for blacks, can effect chanqes only if they remain fully and constructively involved in the economic and political affairs of that land.
A second position, which is a variation of this view, holds that the continued involvement of transnational corporations should be tied to specific actions towards the abolition of apartheid. Bishop Tutu, the South African Nobel Prize Laureate, stated in February 1985 that if meaningful progress is not made within 18-24 months to put an end to apartheid, he would call for punitive economic sanctions against South Africa.
There are then the proponents of disengagement or divestment, who charge that increasing violence and repression in South Africa illustrate the failure of the policy of "constructive engagement" that has been aimed at convincing the white minority to abandon apartheid, through friendly persuasion. They claim that sanctions, divestiture, and disengagement are the only effective means of pressuring South Africa to abandon apartheid.
Of all the crisis facing humanity today, none poses
such challenge to the world community as the shameful system of apartheid in South
Africa. More than ever the time has come to re-examine why the response to apartheid
has been so weak and even indifferent, over the years. The public hearings thus present a
historic opportunity for the international community to forge new and truly effective
policies towards the elimination of apartheid in South Africa.
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