'End apartheid by 1 January 1987', panel of eminent persons asks; details world programme for action by TNCs.

"End apartheid by 1 January 1987', Panel of Eminent Persons asks; details world programme for action by TNCs

The Panel accepts the stated commitment of business to end apartheid but strongly believes that transnational corporations (TNCs) should be more assertive in acting to end apartheid.

All TNCs producing for the military, police and security sectors in South Africa should withdraw immediately.

The mandatory arms embargo should be expanded immediately to include dual-use items serving military and civilian purposes; motor vehicles, computers and electronic equipment should be considered as dual-use items.

The existing voluntary oil embargo should be made mandatory.

Nuclear co-operation of any kind with South Africa and Namibia should be prohibited.

TNCs should refuse to comply with orders under South African security legislation.

There should be no licensing of technology, and no supply of equipment and services to the petroleum sector. Governments should prohibit future purchases of South African and Namibian coal and uranium ore.

These were among the key recommendations outlined in an international programme for ending apartheid and the occupation of Namibia adopted on 11 October by the 11-member Panel of Eminent Persons which conducted public hearings on activities of TNCs in South Africa and Namibia from 16 to 19 September at United Nations Headquarters.

The four-day public hearings were held under the aegis of the United Nations Commission on TNCs, at the direction of the Economic and Social Council, to review testimony from a variety of sources concerning the role of TNCs in southern Africa and to propose concrete remedial measures that could be undertaken at the national and international levels.

The Panel said its recommendations were based on the premises that if TNCs did not engage themselves actively in the abolition of the apartheid system, they must be considered as contributing to the maintenance of the system. If they could not effect the necessary changes, they should withdraw.

In the report--"Transnational Corporations, South Africa and Namibia: Abolishing apartheid and ensuring self-determination for Namibia'--the Panel set a deadline of 1 January 1987 for the South African regime to rescind the Influx Control Laws and the Group Areas Act--major legislative pillars of the apartheid system--and called on the Security Council immediately to adopt a resolution to provide for complete disinvestment from South Africa, should that deadline not be met.

TNCs were to make no new investments, reinvestments or loans to South Africa, and official bodies should extend no export credits or guarantees to enterprises doing business with South Africa. There should be no new licensing of technology, no granting of franchises, no entering into management agreements with any entity in South Africa. TNCs were urged to revoke immediately existing guarantee or double-taxation agreements with South Africa and not to conclude new agreements. Imports of gold from South Africa should be prohibited.

TNCs must change their attitudes fundamentally to contribute to the abolition of apartheid and the freeing of Namibia. Only then could they justify their continued presence there. The Panel accepted in that respect the stated commitment of the representatives of business to work towards the eradication of apartheid and therefore did not call for the complete disinvestment by TNCs.

As for the role of TNCs that would remain in South Africa, the Panel recommended that they adhere strictly to minimum standards of behaviour including:

--Not supplying the military, police or other security forces in South African with material that could be used to enforce apartheid or the occupation of Namibia;

--Completely desegregating all work and work-related facilities and applying the principle of equal pay and benefits for equivalent work, as well as allowing workers to live with their families in desegregated housing within a reasonable distance of the workplace;

--Recognizing trade unions, whether registered or not, and the right of all workers to join the union of their choice;

--Not maintaining any security personnel beyond that which would be accepted in any country to protect plants and not accepting any order under the "Key Points' legislation to establish any militia;

--Paying a minimum wage substantially above the minimum household subsistence level; and

--Providing education, training and advancement opportunities for black employees.

Compliance with those minimum standards would be described in a standardized semi-annual report by each TNC continuing to operate in South Africa, to be prepared jointly by management and elected representatives of the affiliate's entire work force. Those TNCs that could not adhere to those recommendations should withdraw from South Africa immediately or be subjected to disinvestment and deinvestment action.

All recommendations applying to South Africa should also apply to Namibia, the Panel stated. However, an additional set of recommendations was considered necessary to deal with the illegality of TNC operations in Namibia. The Panel recommended, in particular, that:

--Decree No. 1 of the Council for Namibia should be implemented by all Member States immediately;

--All foreign affiliates should terminate their activities in Namibia unless their parent corporations have concluded a contract with the Council;

--Financial returns from dealings relating to natural resources of Namibia should be remitted to the Council as the trustee of the future Government of Namibia;

--TNCs should not pay taxes, royalties or other forms of economic rent to the Government of South Africa in respect of their activities in Namibia;

--The Council for Namibia should take appropriate action to recover from TNCs such payments made to South Africa since 1966; and

--Any dealings related to Namibian resources should be prohibited unless authorized by the Council for Namibia.

The Panel said a set of measures must be formulated to ensure compliance to TNCs with its recommendations. They might include a policy of no public procurement from, and no contracts with, companies that did not comply, as well as the withdrawal of funds from companies and banks that did not comply.

A key feature of the programme is the establishment of an adequate system of public disclosure of information that would facilitate a full public evaluation of the contribution that TNCs are making to achieve required changes in southern Africa. That would involve semi-annual compliance reports and publication by the United Nations of a list of corporations that were not in compliance.

The Panel recommended that the Secretary-General should assume overall responsibility for ensuring the effective implementation of the Panel's recommendations and should seek full co-operation of all concerned. The Secretary-General was to monitor closely both implementation of the Panel's recommendations and progress made in South Africa towards abolishing apartheid and ending the illegal occupation of Namibia. He also was to report regularly on the monitoring process.

In formulating its recommendations, the Panel said it was guided by four general considerations: that the primary source of pressure to abolish apartheid would continue to come from within South Africa itself; that that process, and particularly the liberation of Namibia, must be matched and assisted by international action; that selective measures that were phased, targeted, universal and monitored were more likely to be effective than general measures; and that measures focusing on TNCs might not be sufficient in themselves to bring about the necessary changes, but must be embedded in comprehensive economic and political action.

Photo: Panel of 11 "eminent persons' held four days of hearings.

Photo: Chairman Fraser (second from left) with panel member Barbara Jordan of the United States (right).