Contents: INTRODUCTION • THE MOTOR INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA • The Motor Industry's Role in South Africa's Defense • The US Companies Place Within the Motor Industry • Employment and Working Conditions in US Auto Firms • Why the US Companies Remain in South Africa • GENERAL MOTORS • Ties to and Attitude Toward the South African Government • Work Force, Wages and Working Conditions • FORD • History, Size and Reasons for Investment • Ford's Ties and Attitude Toward the South African Government • Work Force, Wages and Working Conditions • CHRYSLER • Size, History and Reasons for Investment • Ties to and Attitude Toward the Government • Work Force, Wages and Working...
Contents: INTRODUCTION • THE MOTOR INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA • The Motor Industry's Role in South Africa's Defense • The US Companies Place Within the Motor Industry • Employment and Working Conditions in US Auto Firms • Why the US Companies Remain in South Africa • GENERAL MOTORS • Ties to and Attitude Toward the South African Government • Work Force, Wages and Working Conditions • FORD • History, Size and Reasons for Investment • Ford's Ties and Attitude Toward the South African Government • Work Force, Wages and Working Conditions • CHRYSLER • Size, History and Reasons for Investment • Ties to and Attitude Toward the Government • Work Force, Wages and Working Conditions • ACTIONS AGAINST APARTHEID • FOOTNOTES: THE MOTOR INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA • FOOTNOTE GENERAL MOTORS • FOOTNOTES FORD • FOOTNOTES CHRYSLER • The pamphlet says Ford, General Motors and Chrysler constitute an important economic force in South Africa; together, their investments total about $300 million, or about 17% of all US investment in the country, and their assets are valued at approximately $500 million; the three account for about one-third of all motor vehicle sales, and for the employment of more than 11,000 people; Chrysler, by merging its South African operations into a new, South African-managed firm in 1976, provided the nucleus of what is now the country's largest motor company. The pamphlet says the US firms also are important from a strategic point of view; they routinely supply heavy trucks, vans and other vehicles to the Defense Ministry and the police, and, in the event of warfare, their plants could be commandeered to serve military needs. The pamphlet says two secret GM memos written in 1977 spell out how the company would cooperate with military authorities in the event of "civil unrest." The pamphlet says such actions suggest that ultimately, the US firms come down on the side of the status quo, a fact which has prompted many groups in the US and elsewhere to call repeatedly for divestment. The pamphlet says key among these has been the government's desire to make the economy invulnerable to foreign pressures; concerned over a rise in world disapproval as a result of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in which 69 Africans were killed while peacefully protesting against the pass laws. South Africa determined to make itself self-sufficient in all important areas. The pamphlet discusses Henry Food, Thomas A. Murphy, Lee Iacocca, Rev. Leon Sullivan, the Sullivan principles, Ambassador William Bowdler, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), white trade unions, ICCR, Sigma, VW, Datsun, Africans, Coloureds, Asians, car sales, commercial sales, Peugeot-Citroen, assets, British Leyland, the Department of Prisons, the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), the South African Defence Force (SADF), Bedford trucks, a National Key Point, the Ministry of Defence, George Houser, the American Committee on Africa (ACOA), Chevrolet, border duty, Steve Biko, William Winpisinger, the International Association of Machinists, John Gaetsewe, Lou Wilking, H.A. Van Hoogstrate, the South African Parliament, manufacturing sector, Gross National Product, and Timothy Smith.
