Sanctioning Apartheid - KORA

The Inrpf of New Sancriens against South Afrim 131
Afiiixm economy; the vulnerability of the ms to retaliatory
actions which South Africa might take as a result of increased
inter~tional sanctions; and, finally, the costs to the mS of the
attempfs to mainbin the apartheid system within South Ahica
I will discuss ea& of them briefly.
There is no doubt that South Africa dominates the regional
economy of southem Africa; it generates $3 in wealth for every
$1 seated by all $he nine member countries of the Southem
Afrioan Development Cosrdination Conference (-1 on a
quarter of the land area and with one third of the population
Thirty percent of all s m imports come from South Africa and
it is the destination of 7% of the region's exports. AdditidyI
about 70% of the extra-regional trade of the land-locked counbis
of the region passes through South Africa, while Sauth Africa
provides employment for probably about 15 million foreign
nationals from the region. Within the overall grouping some
countries are more dependent upon and interbkd with South
Africn than others. Lesotho, Swaziland, itnd Botswana, joined to
South Africa by a common Customs Union, are partidar1y
vulnerable to influences within the South African economy--over
80% of their imports come from South Africa, over 80% of their
trade pses h g h South Africa, and, in the mses of Swadland
and Lesotho, over 40% of their exporks are purchased by South
Aftica.
The simplAut misleading-condusiorr to draw from this
level of dependence is that sanctions should not be imposed on
South Africa, as the sADcc countries will be seriously and
adversely affectd by such adtion. If this were the camplete
pie, it wouid stand at odds with the most complete joint
statemmi of the grouping in 1986 on the sanctions issue, namely
that even though individual s m counh may not be in a
position to implement their own sanctions, their vulnerability
should not be used as an excuse by others for not imposing
sanctiofls*
Mdes the political and moral wish of the leaders and
people of the nations to see a quick end to the apartheid
system, there are economic and strakgic reasons for such a
seemin&pervmstance.