Clauses urge bans on S.A. loans

Press, 5 October 1984, Page 6

Clauses urge bans on S.A. loans

NZPA Washington An American Congressional panel has approved — over White House objections — provisions to ban American bank loans to the South African Government and to Government-owned companies and to impose new constraints on American companies doing business in South Africa. The approval came from a joint House-Senate conference committee ironing out difference in export control bills approved by each body. The combined bill, which deals with many other matters as well, must go back to the full House and Senate for approval once the committee solves other differences.

If that happens, and the bill is passed before Congress adjourns tomorrow, the President, Mr Ronald Reagan, will still have the power to veto it, though not portions of it A veto is considered a strong possibility because of White House opposition to any ties on American trade with South Africa, but the bill also contains measures that the White House favours, including restrictions on exports of sensitive American technology to Communist and other countries.

The original Senate bill, where the Republicans are in a majority, made no mention of South Africa, but the Senate conferees accepted some Democrat-con-trolled House provisions in exchange for expected agreement on the high-tech-nology export restrictions. The main author of the South African amendment was Stephen Solarz (Dem., Brooklyn), who has raised the possibility of trade sanctions against New Zealand if the ban on port calls by nuclear vessels continues. Mr Solarz said that he believed the South Africa provisions "will be warmly welcomed by blacks and all others working for fundamental change in South Africa.”

Loans by American banks to South Africa total close to SUSS billion ($lO billion), but those affected by the proposed ban (to the Government and its companies) are estimated to add up to less than 10 per cent of that The guide-lines for American companies with business in South Africa would encourage them to comply with non-discrimi-natory employment principles, with the State Department, advised by religious, union, business, and community leaders from both countries reporting each year on each company’s efforts to desegregate work-places, provide equal opportunity to all workers, and improve the quality of life of all workers.

Some 330 American companies are in South Africa, employing about 127,000 workers.

Even stiffer provisions put forward in the House bill were rejected. They called for the Sullivan guide-lines to be mandatory, would have barred the sale in the United States of krugerrands, and would have banned all new investment in South Africa.