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2;3 Fridm/„January 2, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Helen Suzman, a member of
Parliament, disagrees with those
who have reduced the issue to "a
simple equation: if you're not for
sanctions, you must be a racist."
MIMSI KROMER MILTON
Special to The Jewish News
H
elen Suzman, an
elected political leader
in South Africa since
1957 and head of the coun-
try's Progressive Party since
1959, regrets the decision of
several major American cor-
porations to leave her coun-
try. Speaking to an audience
at the Washington Hebrew
Congregation in D.C. recently,
Suzman, a prominent figure
in the Jewish community,
said the positive influence of
companies like General
Motors, IBM and Honeywell
is gone, and judging from the
example of neighboring Zim-
babwe, there is little hope the
companies will return even if
the political situation should
improve. IBM, alone, had
3000 South African em-
ployees.
In her talk, she sought to
prove that the situation in
South Africa is more complex
than many of us realize, and
that there are no quick
solutions.
U.S. firms base their deci-
sions to pull out on three fac-
tors, said Suzman. One is that
they aren't making enough
money, another is that they
to be rid of the "hassle
factor" from angry stock
owners, and last is the threat
of a boycott from disinvest-
ment lobbies and consumers.
Judging from the "Coke
model," Suzman doubts that
the companies will be hurt
financially by this move. Coke
is out of South Africa, she
noted, but even though it has
no assets or employees there,
the syrup is still made
available. Other businesses in
similar situations continue to
supply parts to licensed fran-
chises who sell the company
products in South Africa.
Failing that, goods can be
bought elsewhere on the gray
market and sold in South
Africa. In the end, a com-
pany's decision to leave South
Africa may enhance sales of
its products because con-
sumers are likely to have a
patriotic response to the
move. Justifying the decision
to leave on moral grounds,
said Suzmann, is "a corporate
shell game."
The loss of GM, IBM and
Honeywell, she continued, is
not only an economic loss for
South Africa. "They played
an important role in heighten-
ing the social responsibility of
all employees in the area" by
Helen Suzman:
A moderate voice.
practicing affirmative action
in the education, training and
promotion of black employ-
ees, making housing loans to
employees, and intervening
on behalf of workers with
government officials. The
companies may have been
charged with paternalism,
Suzmann said, but noted that
"the recipients of such pater-
nalism were very grateful."
What sort of Africa will
survive and whether the sur-
vival process will be violent or
peaceful is what concerns
Suzman now Her description
of the status quo outlined a
country of 24 million people,
about two-thirds of whom are
black. The National Party,
which has been in power since
1948, has enacted law after
law that "entrenched racial
discrimination in every facet
of life." Emergency regula-
tions, Suzman noted, have
given the police and officials
total indemnity for any act
done in good faith. Under
these regulations, 17-20,000
people, many under the age of
18, have been detained. Media
coverage of the violence in the
townships and on the cam-
puses which caused the
deaths of 2000 people in the
last two years, she said, has
aroused U.S. moral indigna-
tion over government policies.
It created a desire to send a
clear, moral message to
Pretoria, remarked Suzman,
but unfortunately, the issue
"has been reduced to a simple
equation: If you're not for
sanctions, you must be a
racist."
This is not the case at all,
declared Suzman, who has
steadfastly maintained a
position against sanctions.
She argued that the U.S.
Anti-Apartheid Act which
recently became law is based
on commendable political