African Activist Archive

The pamphlet says in 1966 the United Nations General Assembly, declaring that South Africa had abused and exploited its mandated territory of Namibia (South West Africa), ordered South Africa to withdraw and give this international territory its rightful independence; yet in defiance of the U.N. and a 1971 decision of the International Court of Justice, South Africa has consistently refused to do so. The pamphlet says the Philadelphia Namibia Action Group (PNAG), in support of the struggle of the Namibian people to secure their independence from South Africa, has initiated a campaign against Del Monte's importation to the U.S. of pilchard sardines, all of which are fished in Namibian waters and canned at or near Walvis Bay. The pamphlet says although the exploitation and oppression of Namibia is under the direct control of South Africa's military and civilian administration, economic and material support for that regime comes from Western governments, Western financial institutions, and multinational corporations. The pamphlet says of the three major sectors of the Namibian economy -- mining, fishing, and agriculture -- only the second comes to consumers of Western countries as a mass market item in a clearly identifiable form; as the major U.S. importer of Namibian pilchard sardines, Del Monte is the natural target for an action campaign to protest the abuse of Namibia's fishing resources; sardines are packed in or near the port of Walvis Bay under the contract labor system -- the modern world's substitute for slavery. The pamphlet discusses apartheid, the Western powers, trade, investment, Swakara furs, diamonds, "homelands", U.N. Decree #1, the Bay Area Namibia Action Group, Del Monte Corporation, and South West Africa. • WHY FOCUS ON A U.S. CORPORATION? • WHY SARDINES? • WHY DEL MONTE? • WHAT DOES DEL MONTE DO? • WHAT IS PNAG DOING? • WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

African Activist Archive

THE PEOPLE vs. Del Monte

Creator

Place Created

Date

Type of Item

Length/duration

Description

Organization

Coverage Africa

Language

Digital Format

Rights Management

Collection