Sanctioning Apartheid - KORA

7%~ Impact of Wau Sanctions against Smth Africn
financial contactsr especially with the indusbialked and more
advanced industrhkhg nations of the world. her levels of
arternal contact will lead to lower levels of domestic economic
growth, raising unemployment levels and fueling domestic
u~est It is here that the "sanctions element" comes into the
economic equation. Impeding or restricting South. Africa's
exportsr cutting off or dudng its crucial imports, mskichg
reducing, and halting loan finance, including trade creditI
impeding the transfer of technology, disrupting transpart and
communications links--all these have the &xt of lowering
pwth rab for the economy.
At present, given the past accumulation of commd
foreign debt, South Africa requires expanding lev& of expo*
to run a quite substantial current account surplus on its balance
of payments to honor its debt repayments while at the same time
importing the 05 machinery, and equipment it nrteds for high
levels of sustained growth. Recent figures and those projected
for 1938 indicate that South Africa has been quite successful in
achieving a current account surplus.
Table I
Current Account Surplus
Rand (Billion) US$ (Billion)
5.7 2.6
7 3.1
6 3.0 (estimatel
3-4.6 1.M.5 (forecast)
Initially it would appear that success in manag$lg the
current account has Dccurred because of a rapid rise in exprts.
Indeed the value of South Africa's total "pcrts has risen from
R20 billion in 1980 to I325 billion in 1985 and to R42 billion in
1986. However, measured in mRs, South African exports fell by
25% b m SDR 21 billion in 1980 to SDR 15.7 billion in 1986 (a
farge part of the sustaining of exports being due to the predomi-
nant place and world price of gold, gold amun.ting for some