This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.
From 2 August 1985: Financial Times, Jim Jones et al., "Rand Steadies as Pretoria Faces Increasing Unrest"
A NERVOUS calm settled on South Africa's financial markets yesterday despite the continuing international moves to impose selective economic sanctions, and news of further unrest around the country.
Members of the European Community, who early yesterday summoned their ambassadors to South Africa to Brussels for consultations, continued efforts to co-ordinate anti-apartheid measures.
In London Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, repeated her opposition to sanctions. She and M Laurent Fabius, the French Prime Minister, agreed to differ at their Downing Street meeting. Although Mrs Thatcher stressed Britain's opposition to apartheid.
France is playing leading role in the Community's efforts to include selective sanctions in a tougher approach to Pretoria.
The rand, which fell 10 per cent on Wednesday, recovered at end of trading yesterday to slightly under 46 U.S. cents, despite confirmation by banking sources that Chase Manhattan, the New York banking group, had ended new loans to South Africa and had refused to roll over existing loans as they matured.
The market seemed reassured by the intervention of Dr Gerhard de Kock, governor of the Reserve Bank, who told businessmen no additional restrictions would be placed on the export of capital from the county, and interest rates would not rise.
In Washington Senator Robert Dole, majority leader, confirmed that final congressional approval of U.S. economic sanctions against South Africa would be held up for more than a month, following the threat of a right-wing filibuster in the Republican-led Senate.
The delay would mean President Ronald Reagan would have until at least September to decide whether to veto the sanctions package, to which the White House repeated some of its objections yesterday.
In New York the Chase decision threw U.S. bankers into confusion yesterday, Several major banks confirmed that they were reducing their private sector lending to South Africa but most others staunchly defended their South African private lending practices.
Chase, the third largest U.S. banking group, is believed to have less than $500m in private sector loans outstanding to South African borrowers, most of it to banks.
It is the second major U.S. banking group to take this action. In late March, Bank of Boston, the 16th largest banking group in the U.S., extended to private borrowers its 1978 policy of making no new loans to the South African public sector.
There are indications that several other banks might follow suit. Citicorp, however, the world's largest banking group, said yesterday that despite "deep concern" about events in South Africa it believed its presence provided "a positive force for opposition to apartheid."
Political tensions in South Africa increased yesterday as the Bishop Desmond Tutu, warned that he would ignore a newly-introduced ban on political speeches and large gatherings at the funerals of anti-apartheid demonstrators.
Bishop Tutu, seen by many observers as playing a moderating role in the violence which has cost nearly 500 lives in the past year, said: "I will not be told by any secular authorities what gospel I must preach."
His stand, likely to be followed by other black religious leaders, could lead to further confrontations with the Government, whose wide-ranging emergency powers introduced a fortnight ago have failed to quell dissent.
Unrest continued in Cape Town, where black students boycotted classes. On Wednesday night two men reported to be intent on sabotaging East London's power station were shot dead.
As European political leaders prepared to co-ordinate fresh antiapartheid measures and the U.S. Congress moved to overcome the remaining hurdles before the selective economic sanctions bill is presented to President Reagan, Pretoria's political isolation grew.
The EEC started an attempt to reconcile differences between Britain and West Germany, which have declared their opposition to sanctions, and the rest of EEC members, who appear ready to adopt selective measures.
The gap between Britain and the Community emerged both in Helsinki and London yesterday.
Sir Geoffrey Howe, Britain's Foreign Secretary, said in Helsinki London's ambassador, who like other EEC ambassadors in South Africa will be returning for consultations, was not being recalled permanently. He would return to Pretoria as soon as the consultative procedure was completed. He reaffirmed Britain's opposition to sanctions against South Africa.
The foreign ministers of the Ten have asked the political committee to establish in inventory of measures which had already been taken against South Africa or were envisaged by member-states. A report on measures which the EEC might adopt "to contribute to the abolition of apartheid" will be presented to ministers at their next meeting on September 10.
Mrs Thatcher said after her meeting with M Fabius: "We have perhaps different ways of achieving the objective, but the objective is the same.
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Major US bank cuts off South African lending NEW YORK._ Chase Manhattan, the third largest United States bank, has decided to stop making loans to private borrowers in South Africa, banking sources said. The sources, who declined to be identified, said the step was apparently taken in response to the outcry in the US and elsewhere over the recent declaration of a state of emergency by the white-minority government of South Africa. ""Some, if not all, private sector lines (of credit) will be allowed to run off and will not be renewed," one banking source said. A Chase spokesman, Steven Rautenberg, declined to comment on the bank's lending policies to private borrowers on the grounds of customer confidentiality. Details of how much money Chase has lent to South African companies were unavailable but one published estimate was about $US500 million ($A694 million). Chase, which stopped lending to the South African government in 1977, is believed to be the first major US bank to cut off money to the private sector in that country. A joint Congressional conference committee in Washington yesterday reached agreement on a bill to impose economic sanctions against South Africa, including a ban on US bank loans. (Reuter)