WORLD

“He doesn’t care two beans about
Black people in South Africa,’’ Bishop
Desmond Tutu retorted when hearing of
Reagan’s so-called sanctions announced
Sept. 10. The sanctions were publicly
described in the U.S. press as a last-ditch
effort by the White House to prevent
effective steps by Congress as the situa-
tion in South Africa developed.

““Reagan’s measures,” Yusuf
Saloogee, -ANC representative to
Canada told the Tribune, ‘“‘mean he’s
playing footsie. I wouldn’t even call
these measures sanctions.

“He's playing games with the Repub-
lican Party and with the strong anti-
apartheid sentiments in the U.S. There
isn’t a grain of doubt left that the vast
majority of the American people want
very strong punitive measures taken
against the racist regime, and Reagan
knows this very well.

“To subdue these sentiments and to
tone down possible strong measures
from Congress, he has introduced these
mild actions which even the South Afri-
can government acknowledges won't
hurt. I don’t think this will solve Rea-
gan’s problems because as the Congress
watches the situation in South Africa un-
fold daily and as Free. South Africa
Movement in the U.S. continues its mas-
sive campaigns, it will become clear
Reagan’s measures are a fraud.”

Regarding the Canadian government's
stance, Saloogee said: ‘‘I don’t know if
External Affairs Minister Clark and
Prime Minister Mulroney are themselves
confused, or whether their aim is to con-
fuse the Canadian people.

“On the one hand Mulroney in Van-
couver promised strong measures

against Pretoria. Days later, Clark con-
tradicted Mulroney. Then Mulroney
backed away from his Vancouver com-
ments.

“Now the government says it will con-
sider the possibility of strong diplomatic
and economic sanctions. Then, in
contradiction, they say the time is not
ripe for sanctions.-

“It’s time the Canadian government
made up its mind where they stand. Are
they sincere in backing up their strong
condemnation of apartheid with real ac-
tion? To date they have done nothing to
back up promises of further sanctions.
And all thistakes place while public opin-
ion in Canada against apartheid is grow-
ing by leaps and bounds.

“The ANC’s appeal,’’ Saloogee con+

~-tinued, *‘which has been and is directed
to all Canadians — labor, the religious
community, all mass organizations — is
to take personal and collective steps to
ensure no truck or trade with rhe racist
regime and, at the same time, to help
provide the needed material and moral
support to the liberation struggle under-
way.”

Saloogee then described the growing
movement inside South Africa: ‘‘There

is a country-wide boycott by Blacks of

white-owned-business which is highly-
successful,’ he said. ‘‘Despite every
possible repressive measure against the
recent miners’ strike it was a great moral
victory for the National Union of Mine-
workers. And it certainly is not the end of
the strike. Important, too,’ Saloogee
said, “was a total boycott of classes by
students in support of miners which was
so successful that the regime locked up
over 500 children,

CPC letter to Mulroney

TORONTO — Reacting to press re-
ports that Prime Minister Mulroney is
backing away from effective actions
against the racist regime in South Afri-
ca, Communist Party leader William
Kashtan in a letter Sept. 9, urged Mul-
roney to reconsider its position and

help bring down the apartheid system:
: ; - <2 56

Many, many Canadians were con-
cerned with your turnabout regarding
economic sanctions against apartheid
in South Africa. The reason you gave

_ for saying no to sanctions are not very
| convincing. You say it will hurt the
Blacks, the ‘‘coloreds”’ and the Indians
who very much need our help. This has
been the position of President Reagan,
the multi-national corporations and not
least, of the Botha Government for
quite some time. The last thing they
want are economic sanctions.

Now you add a new dimension to
your no to sanctions. According to the
Globe and Mail of September 2nd, you
are quoted as saying: ‘‘There are loud
voices now coming to us from South
Africa that say these policies may very
well cripple us, the people you're trying
to help’’.

Who are these people? Are you refer-
ring to some Uncle Toms? The voices
one gets from South Afrita say yes to
sanctions. The voice of Bishop Des-
mond Tutu asks: *‘where are the voices
of governments in the West at this time
of need?’ Yes, where are these
“‘lovers’’ of human rights who will do
everything except get off the backs of
the people?

What is apparent is that a qualita-
tively new situation exists in South Af-

Ottawa must act now!

rica. The very existence of the Botha
regime is now in question, despite the
support it has been getting from West-
ern goyernments, more particularly
from the USA. The whip and the gun
cannot anymore repress the growing
opposition of the Black, ‘‘colored’’ and
Indian people, and now joined by an
increasing number of white people to
the entire system of apartheid and so-
cial oppression.

Indeed 63 per cent of the Black
people now regard armed struggle as
the only instrument to win political
freedom.

One would expect that the Canadian
government which has issued strong
criticism of apartheid would back it up
with equally strong measures to help
bring it to an end. Instead the Canadian
public is being offered lame excuses as
to why no effective action should be
taken to bring an end to apartheid. We
know that Canada cannot alone achieve
this. But its voice and its action could
be decisive at this crucial moment. To
again quote Bishop Desmond Tutu:
““where are the voices of Governments
in the West’?

I urge your Government to recon-
sider its position on sanctions. What is
called for at this moment of crisis is
total sanctions against the South Afri-
can government, effective measures of
disinvestment of Canadian companies,
the immediate and unconditional re-
lease of Nelson Mandela and all politi-
cal prisoners in South Africa.

This is the way to help bring an end to
the evil of apartheid and open the door
to equal rights in South Africa.

“ae

‘8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 18, 1985

Reagan’s ‘sanctions’ are a fraud

“The call for sanctions was initially made 25 years ago . .. in recognition of the extent to

which apartheid was buttressed by external economic, political and military links.”

“As in the past, the regime is again
trying to hide what is going on inside the
country as recent press restrictions
against foreign journalists show. They
want to keep the press away because
what they are doing is gruesome and hor-
rible. Stories coming from across the
land of what is happening are really hor-
ror stories, and they are trying to put a lid
on press coverage,’ he charged.

Saloogee then quoted from a recent
article in the London Observer which
discussed sanctions:

“The call for sanctions against South
Africa was made initially 25 years ago by
Africa’s first Nobel Peace Prize winner
and ANC President, Chief Albert
Lutuli. The demand sprang from a rec-
ognition of the extent to which the apart-
heid state was being buttressed and

strengthened by external economic, .

political arid military links.
‘Historically, foreign interests have

not been neutral in the process of —

entrenching racism and exploitation in
South Africa. On the contrary, foreign

“The regime is trying to hide what they’re

doing because it is gruesome and horri-
ble .. . they are trying to put a lid on press
coverage.”

capital was responsible for initiating
many of the distinctive features of the
South African economy, such as com-
pound system in the mining industry,
migratory labor throughout southern
Africa, the introduction of a color bar
controlling access to scale work.

“In these ways foreign investment
played a leading role in laying the founda-

tion of apartheid and in shaping its ~

institutions. They continue to do so
today while sheltering behind so-called
‘codes of conduct’. Foreign investment,
loans, credits and trade with the South
African economy strengthen the apar-
theid regime.

‘Apart from the direct support pro-
vided through taxes, technology trans-
fer, provision of technical expertise and
skilled labor, the continuing economic

links have enabled the regime to allocate —

greater resources to military and security
expenditure; to strategic stockpiling, in-
cluding oil, and to the establishment of an
armaments industry.

*““Many foreign companies and

financial institutions are actively in-

volved in the manufacture of weapons, in
provisioning and supplying the military,
in servicing their regressive state ma-

chinery and its security apparatus, in —

facilitating army and police mobility
including transport. Their managers and
directors sit on official planning commit-
tees.

“Those who oppose sanctions take
their cue from the ruling white minority
and reflect its prejudices, rather than the
aspirations and grievances of the Black
majority.

“At the heart of apartheid lies the de-
nial of political rights and access to pollit-
ical power to the majority of South Afri-
cans. Botha’s reforms can find little
Black support because, beneath the
rhetoric, they are designed to entrench
white domination.

“Every society has the right to decide
which sacrifices it is prepared to make in
order to achieve its desired goals. Our
people can be no exception, and have
exercised their right in calling for sanc-
tions.

“Equally, the countries of southern
Africa have made their position clear.
They recognize that sanctions are the

correct strategy for the international —

community.”

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