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the list of embargoed imports from
Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was for–
merly known.
Chrome is so indispensable that,
according to Mr. Andrews, "we
would have to revert 40 to 50 years
in our standard of living and our
technology in order todo away with
chrome completely." C hrome is,
more than any other metal, the
Achilles' heel of the U.S. economy.
Wi t hout it America would be
brought quickly to its knees.
Y
et the cruncber is that the
United States is a lmost totally
dependent upon imports for its
chromite ore and South Africa is
the largest free world producer of
it. And by adding Zimbabwe, the
proveo reserves of southern Africa
as a region constitute roughly 97
percent of the t ota l world 's
resources. The other large current
producer? The Soviet Union.
Manganesa, Other Minera ls
Another indispensable metal is man–
ganese. Once again, U .S. domestic
production currently is negligible.
Manganese is essential to the pro–
duction of steel. There is no known
substitute for it. Without its quali–
ties to capture impurities, steel
would tear, c rack and break. "When
we can do without steel, we can do
without manganese," reports the
U.S. Department of the Interior.
Statis t ics var y considerably
about the primary deposits and
reserves of manganese (as they do
conce rning most metals) , but
according to one source 50 percent
of the world 's known recoverable
reserves of manganese líe in South
Africa- with the other 50 percent
inside the Soviet Union.
The Soviets have striven for self–
sufficiency in manganese. The
United States, J apan and Western
E u rope, accordi ng to a U .S.
Department of the Interior report,
"are all nearly completely deficient
in manganese that is economically
mineable." They rely on imports,
mainly from South Africa, Gabon,
Brazil and Austral ia.
Two other groups of metals fur–
ther reveal the critica! dependence of
the West on southern
Africa.
First of all there is the platinum
group of metals (PGM), a family of
six closely related metals. One of
the principal uses of PGM now is
to act as catalysts to control auto–
mobile emissions. And every year
the demand increases as emission
control standards tighten.
Accord i ng to a noth e r U .S .
Department of the Interior report,
" nearly all of the world's supply of
these metals currently a re ex–
tracted from Jode deposits in tbree
countries-the Republ ic of South
Africa, the U.S.S.R. and Cana–
da."
Finally, there is cobalt. This
space-age metal is necessary for the
superhard alloys used in the aero–
space industry. Every jet engine
requires 200 pounds of the metal.
Cobalt is also essential in the man–
ufacture of integrated circuits.
The United States, the world's
aerospace leader, must impor t 97
percent of its cobalt supply, most of
it from Shaba province in ZaYre,
which produces two thirds of the
enti re Free World supply.
Zaire twice, in 1977 and 1978,
almost fell to invading Communist–
backed forces striking out from
Angola. With one of its neighbors,
Sudan, coming under pressure
from radical Libya, sorne exper ts
are once again concer ned over
Za!re's future.
Moreover, " three Z" countries
to tbe north of South Afr ica–
Zai·re, Zimbabwe and Zambia (an–
other major cobalt producer)–
must ship their ores out by way of
South African railroads and ports.
They thus are vulnerable to world
sanct ions as well as any counter–
measures by Pretoria.
Space does not permit an exami–
nation of other critica! minerals,
such as gold, u ranium, tungsten,
vanadium, columbi um and tita–
nium.
Deadly Trap Being Set
eral academicians and journal ists."
Revolutionaries are determined to
hall this process. They need help
from the West-in the form of dis–
investment.
If
those agitating for disinvest–
ment of U.S ., British, Canadian
and other Western indust ries suc–
ceed, Member of Parli ament
Abram told me, then additional
millions of blacks could be thrown
out of work- better able to be mar–
shaled into the forces of revolu–
tion!
(There is no doubt that sorne
young people, in joining the disin–
vestment bandwagon, are mot i–
vated by idealist intentions, or sim–
ply do not see the outcome of their
actions. Then, too, as
Newsweek
magazine pointed out in its May
13, 1985, issue, many stude nt dem–
onstrators simply want to show that
" the spirit of protest is a1ive and
well.")
Mr. Abram's a n alysis was
backed up by a report in an inside
financia! newsletter that reports, in
the boldest of terms:
"The Soviets do not believe they
can conquer South Africa militari–
ly. Their plan is instead to surround
and isolate South Africa, precipi–
tate economic sanctions and disin–
vestment in the West, harass South
Africa along her fou r cou ntry
1500-mile border, a nd foment
interna! revolution among her 16
mi Ilion Blacks."
It is no coincidence that the cam–
paign of protests in the United
States began in earnest a little more
than a year ago after a high power
mee ting between revolution a r y
leaders and their American sup–
porters at the United Nations. So
revealed Arnaud de Borchgrave,
editor of the
Washington Times.
How do those whom the revolu–
tion is supposed to help feel about
disinvestment? Public opinion sur–
veys reveal that black South Afri–
can workers are s ignificantly
agai nst disinvestment. But overseas
organizers say the workers must be
willing to sacrifice their jobs in
order to gain their "freedom."
Even more is at stake. Employ–
ment in South Africa is crucial to
the various small politically indepen–
dent- but economically very depen–
dent- states in South Africa. In the
mountainous highlands of Lesotho,
The PLAIN TRUTH