16/80
American Committee on Africa; United Nations Centre Against Apartheid
New York, New York, United States
May 1980
10 pages
This statement signed by 55 Americans was released at a hearing organized by the Special Committee Against Apartheid on March 24, 1980. Contents: The Sullivan principles are not an action but a reaction • Sullivan principles do not and cannot change the structure of apartheid • The Sullivan principles cannot significantly alter black working conditions quite apart from whether they will alter apartheid • The Sullivan principles allow a continuing flow of aid to South Africa's white regime • While United States investment in South Africa has increased greatly in recent years conditions for South Africa's black majority have worsened: the Sullivan principles will...
This statement signed by 55 Americans was released at a hearing organized by the Special Committee Against Apartheid on March 24, 1980. Contents: The Sullivan principles are not an action but a reaction • Sullivan principles do not and cannot change the structure of apartheid • The Sullivan principles cannot significantly alter black working conditions quite apart from whether they will alter apartheid • The Sullivan principles allow a continuing flow of aid to South Africa's white regime • While United States investment in South Africa has increased greatly in recent years conditions for South Africa's black majority have worsened: the Sullivan principles will not alter this trend • Many Africans believe that withdrawal, not signing the Sullivan principles or any other code of conduct, is the only appropriate step for foreign investors • Signers of the public statement on the Sullivan principles • Public debate on whether United States companies should do business in South Africa continues to grow; the Sullivan principles, a voluntary business code of conduct initiated by the Reverend Leon Sullivan, have become an important element in this debate. Signers of the six Sullivan principles pledge to support a series of workplace reforms in South Africa, including the ending of segregation in locker and dining facilities; the provision of training and advancement opportunities for blacks; and the payment of equal wages for equal work. The principles were signed originally in early 1977 by 12 major U.S. firms, including Ford, Mobil, General Motors, IBM and Union Carbide. More than 130 have now endorsed the principles. The nationwide uprising which began in Soweto in 1976 signaled a new stage in the struggle for freedom in South Africa. These events have inspired university students to begin calling for divestment from companies doing business in South Africa, and many churches, unions, and members of the black community to demand an end to bank loans and corporate investments by U.S. firms.
United Nations
American Committee on Africa
United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid
English
text/pdf
Used by permission of Africa Action (successor to the American Committee on Africa).
