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the violence taking place. And at
the same time they were firmly
opposed to the campaign in sorne
quarters of the United States to
force local, state, university and
union pension funds to sell off
shareholdings in the more than 300
American companies doing busi–
ness in Soutb Africa.
The goal of those calling for dis–
investment is act ually
divest–
ment- forci ng those companies to
pull out of the country entirely.
(These traveling officials, including
the black leaders, found to their
dismay that many local U .S. offi–
cials did not want to hear their side
of the story.)
There was no doubt in the minds
of those 1 talked to as to who was
largely responsible for the current
st ate of unrest- radical g roups
inside the townships (the
white cities are unaf-
est answer carne from a most elo–
quent member of the visiting South
African parl iamentarians, Salam
Abram, a member of the new
l ndian chamber (which is called
the House of Delegates).
"There are," Mr. Abram said,
"elements within our borders who
do not want to see reform succeed."
They fear that the country's new
governmental structures (gradually
admitting Indians, coloureds and
eventually perhaps urban blacks
into the process) could, as Mr.
Abram said , have "an even chance
of success." Success would keep a
prosperous society in the Western
camp. Revolutionaries bent on seiz–
ing power must turn those not yet
in the system
against
the system
befare it's too late.
Never forget, added Mr. Abram,
fected to date) who have
The p/atinum
been inc i ting you ng
school-age a nd un em–
ployed youths to violence.
The pr incipal guerrill a
organization, backed by
the South African Com–
munist Party, has vowed
to make the black urban
arcas of the country " un–
governable." This is the
reason for the growi ng
number o f attacks on
group are
essential in
medica/
instruments,
molten glass,
electrical
contacts, and
as catalysts.
local black counci l officials and
policemen- a nyone accused of
"collaboration." Much of the may–
hem also takes place between rival
forces competing for power.
While the instigators grab the
headlines, the vast majority of
South Afri ca's black people,
according to the June 26
lntelli–
gence Digest
of Britain, "are sad–
dened and shocked by the behavior
of their youngsters, stirred up to a
frenzy by professional rabble-rous–
ers hired by one revolutionary orga–
nization or another."
Parliamentarian Speaks Out
But , once again , why the revolu–
t ionary mentality
now?
The clear-
SPERRYLITE
that the fall of the Western-style
free enterprise system in South
Africa is a majar Soviet objective.
To faci litate this aim, he said, the
Communists turned the revolutions
in two former Portuguese colonies
flanking South Africa- Angola
and Mozambique- to their side.
But, again, why is Moscow so
interested? Minerals provide the key
to the answer, along with South
Africa's strategic locat ion along the
Cape route sea lane, around which is
transported much of Weste rn
Europe's oil from the Middle East.
The defense of the United States
and much of the rest of the Western
world hinges upon continued access
to South Africa's treasure trove of
minerals. The late Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev once boasted that
the key to Soviet world domination
is the isolation of the mineral
resources of the Middle East and
southern Africa from the Wes t.
A Critica! Element
Let's Iook at sorne of these minerals,
first of all chromium. The United
States has no chromium reserves
and limited resources. Yet this min–
eral is so critica] in the area of
national defense that without it mis–
siles, ships, submarines, aircraft and
weapons support systems could not
successfu lly be built. Regarding
chrome, a report from the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau
of Mines, says, rather matter-of–
factly: "The problem for the United
States is one of national security."
Chrome is considered to be the
si ngle most important strategic
mineral to modern civilization.
It
has also been called the " most
un s ubst itut a ble metal i n the
world. " There is no replacement
for it in the manufacture of corro–
sion-resistant steel.
Without chrome, said former
steel executive E.F. Andrews, "we
can't build an automobile- and I'm
not talking about the trim, we can't
make jet airplane engines, we can't
dril! an oi l well, we can't dig a
mine."
Chrome is considered so vital
that for years the Unite.d States
specifically exempted chrome from