ic
bund n, cheap labor not only h s benefited the South African
in ng c or but also has benefited overall profitability of its
eco omy. In 1983, the U.S. Commerce Department listed the rate
of r turn for investments in South Africa at 15 percent, versus
o percent in the United States. In the 196Os, the average rate of return was
8.6 percent. The e rate of return on investments, hich would not have oc­
curred ithout the domination of the African ork force, have made South Africa
on of t e most profitable nations ith hich to do business in the orld. In
983 th er ge monthly ages of African or ers (249) ere only 14.7 per-
c nt of a hite wor er's monthly ages ( 1683). This income ensures the ex­
t tenc of hunger, po erty and disease for the African orkers and their families.
In order to perpetua e its rule and the profitability of its economy, the South
Africa go ernment is highly active in molding the pol tics and economies of
urrounding nations, usu I y in ays that create or exacerbate hunger in the
region. Sance 1970, South Africa has attac ed each of its neighboring countries.
he most recent attac s ere in ay 1986, when within a week, South Africa
tt c d Zambia Zimb b e, Sots ana nd Angola.
In ozambiq , the South Afr can-bac ed Mozambique National Resistance
R) h ought to de-stabilize the government by attacking those sectors
of the ozambique economy upon hich it is most dependent: agriculture and
r n portauon. In 1984, ozambique lost 100,000 people to famine. any of
he d aths ould not have occurred if the farmers, particularly subsistence
arm r ,h not n intimidated, harrassed or murdered while producing crops.
In ddttlon to rain, farmers need peace. Relief efforts also have been stymied
by the de truction of transport routes and the murder of drivers transporting
m rg ncy food goods.
In amibi, a land held illegally by South Africa, blacks suffer a fate similar
o th r blae Sou h African neighbors. amibians have been denied their citizen-
hip nd pu d onto South-African inspired homelands. In a nation that has
o imposing deserts ( lahari and amib), hites control more than 90 per-
cen of little fertile soil exi ts. Wage disparities bet een blacks and whites
dr m tic. In 1977 (the la t year such figures ere released), the average an­
I mcorn for hite 3,000; blacks averaged 125. As in South Africa,
for cap, blac I bor to mine mineral resources serves to undergird
mib n conomy.
n 0 a, amibia's nei hbor to the north, has faced an ongoing challenge
ro Sou h frica since i indep ndence from Portugal in 1975. As with Mozam­
blque, Sou Africa not only has attacked Angola on numerous occasions but
o a fund d nd supplied its 0 n rebel force Inside Angola through an
org nlz ton no n U ITA. The United States no openly supports U ITA,
t u lIying It If ith South Africa, a ituation that has little, if any support,
rou out Afric nd th orld. The ar is a major contributor to the famine
10 Ango .
Du to th ir poor military and economy, S aziland, Lesotho and Bots ana
r hlg Iy d P d nt upo the arning gained by the migration of their labor
orc 0 So fr c n outgro th of relationships de eloped by hite
I r nd Bri I co 001 I ru e, nd the r attttes of limited arable land, alter­
o f rm nd mining production hich did not serve the economic in-