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See also the following sections of this website:

• South Africa

Truth & Reconciliation Commission official reports

The Final Report of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission: section on Business and Labour (Truth & Reconciliation Commission, South Africa, Oct.1998)

Transcripts of Business Sector Hearings: Truth & Reconciliation Commission (Truth & Reconciliation Commission, South Africa, 11-13 Nov. 1997):

• Day 1 (11 Nov. 1997)

• Day 2 (12 Nov. 1997)

• Day 3 (13 Nov. 1997)

Submissions to Truth & Reconciliation Commission

African National Congress Submission to Special Truth and Reconciliation Commission Hearing on The Role of Business (African National Congress, Nov. 1997)

COSATU Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Hearings on Business and Apartheid (COSATU: Congress of South African Trade Unions, Nov. 1997)

Centre for Conflict Resolution Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Business Sector Hearing (Laurie Nathan, Peter Batchelor and Guy Lamb, Centre for Conflict Resolution, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Oct. 1997)

Websites:

UN Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) - [From 1977 to 1993 the United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) undertook a vigorous research programme on transnational corporations, worked on policy responses to South African investment, environment, and corporate standards, and advised developing and transition countries on foreign direct investment matters. In 1993 UNCTC was disbanded. Now a group of former UNCTC staff are creating a website to make more accessible the reports and studies prepared by the Center.]

Other materials:

S. African gold firm faces $7 billion suit - Workers at South Africa's second-largest gold mining company [Gold Fields] were tortured, enslaved and poisoned with uranium, according to a $7.4-billion lawsuit filed late on Tuesday in a New York court...In the suit, Mtwesi alleged he and others were "tortured, enslaved, subjected to unfair and discriminatory Slave or Forced Labor practices (and) exposed to toxic and dangerous chemicals, fumes, substances and radioactive materials." (Jeanne King, Reuters, 7 May 2003)

• Archbishop steps into mining case [South Africa] - In a strange twist mining company Gold Fields yesterday confirmed it had been approached to meet Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane to try to resolve the claims brought against it for alleged prejudice during the apartheid years. The archbishop was said to be approaching all the mining companies named in the apartheid suits, which have total possible claims of $15 billion against them, to try to resolve the matter before it reached the courts. (Sherilee Bridge, Business Report, 7 May 2003)

• Workers file $7bn uranium lawsuit - South African mining group Gold Fields faces a $7bn (£4.4bn) legal challenge [in a New York court] from former workers, who claim they were contaminated by uranium and have now fallen ill. (BBC News, 5 May 2003)

• Gold Fields faces uranium exposure lawsuit -...Gold Fields said - just as AngloAmerican did last month - that it did not recognise the jurisdiction of the US courts...Under the US Alien Tort Claims Act, foreign citizens can file claims regarding human rights abuses against companies that do business in the US. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 5 May 2003)

• Gold Fields, the second-largest gold producer in South Africa, will vigorously defend a lawsuit brought against to it by the company's former employees, said company officials on Monday. (South African Press Association, 5 May 2003)

Gold Fields faces $7bn uranium exposure suit - Lawyers acting on behalf of more than 500 former employees of Gold Fields, South Africa's second largest gold producer, will file a suit on Monday in New York seeking damages of up to $7bn. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 4 May 2003)

• Gold Fields is facing lawsuit for subhuman' working conditions - The apartheid claims task force says it will file a lawsuit for billions of dollars in New York against SA [South African] gold mining company Gold Fields for making blacks work under "subhuman" conditions. (Business Day [South Africa], 2 May 2003)

• Class action suit filed against Gold Fields (South African Broadcasting Corporation, 2 May 2003)

• Gold Fields dismisses lawsuit threats - Bullion producer Gold Fields Ltd said on Friday it would "strenuously defend" itself against a threatened lawsuit seeking damages of up to $7-billion for workers who say they were unfairly treated. (Hilary Gush, Reuters, 2 May 2003) 

S.Africa Plans Payment to Apartheid Victims - South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday his government would make a one-time payment of $3,890 each to more than 19,000 victims of apartheid identified by the country's truth commission.  But Mbeki said the government would not follow a recommendation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to levy a wealth tax on South African business to help pay for reparations...He also signaled the government's opposition to a slew of class-action lawsuits filed in U.S. courts by lawyers acting on behalf of apartheid victims seeking billions of dollars in compensation from foreign and South African corporations accused of propping up or benefiting from nearly half a century of white-minority rule. (Gershwin Wanneburg, Reuters, 15 Apr. 2003)

• Mbeki opposes corporate apartheid lawsuits - South Africa President Thabo Mbeki says the government has not been and will not be party to litigation [in U.S. courts] against corporations that benefited from the apartheid system. (Donwald Pressly, Business Day [South Africa], 15 Apr. 2003)

• Pressure On Mbeki to Lift Burden On Business [South Africa] - President Thabo Mbeki is due to give government's official position today on the issue of reparations for victims of apartheid, amid growing corporate and investor unease about the mounting hidden costs of investing in SA. (Julie Bain, Rob Rose And Xolani Xundu, Business Day [South Africa], 15 Apr. 2003)

{···français} Apartheid: des firmes sommées de réparer - Des plaignants sud-africains réclament des milliards de dollars ( Sabine Cessou, Libération, 12 avril 2003)

US firm faces $1bn claim for complicity [South Africa] - Fluor, the biggest US publicly traded engineering and construction company, faces a $1 billion claim by black former workers who allege they were discriminated against under apartheid. Anglo American, the world's second-biggest mining company, and diamond producer De Beers also face a lawsuit by former employees who say they were enslaved, beaten and tortured under apartheid. Lawyer Ed Fagan said a lawsuit would be filed today in California federal courts. The suit will argue that Fluor paid blacks less than whites and that the company helped repress workers during a 1987 strike in which two were killed. (Jonathan Rosenthal and Antony Sguazzin, Business Report [South Africa], 7 Apr. 2003)

• Anglo stock hit by class action suit [South Africa] - Shares in Anglo American and Sasol fell sharply on Friday after it was disclosed that US lawyer Ed Fagan and local representative John Ngcebethsa were planning to file a class action suit for damages against Anglo and Fluor, a US company that worked with Sasol, for their role in human rights abuses during apartheid. (Max Gebhardt, Business Report [South Africa], 7 Apr. 2003)

• Lawsuits Force Anglo, Sasol Shares Lower [South Africa] - Government does not back the multibillion-dollar lawsuits [in U.S. courts] for apartheid reparations being brought against SA corporate giants, but will also not intervene to stop them, says Justice Minister Penuell Maduna. (Rob Rose & Julie Bain, Business Day [South Africa], 7 Apr. 2003)

• Anglo case to start in New York - The apartheid reparations class action lawsuit, which includes commodity giant Anglo American (Anglo) as a respondent, is set to start May 19 in a New York court...Anglo, along with the world's largest diamond miner De Beers which is 45% held by Anglo, faces a $3.1 to $6.1bn apartheid lawsuit...US construction and engineering group US Fluor Corporation is also facing a claim of between $900m and $1.4bn. (Justin Brown, News24.com [South Africa], 7 Apr. 2003)

• Sasol slumps on apartheid claim [South Africa] (AFP, 7 Apr. 2003)

• Ed Fagan, SA lawyers take aim at Fluor [South Africa] (South African Press Association, in Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 6 Apr. 2003)

• Diamond industry hit by £3bn suit - The maverick lawyer who forced Swiss banks to pay out huge reparations to Holocaust victims yesterday took on the diamond industry, demanding billions of dollars be paid to South African workers "exploited" during the apartheid era. (Fred Bridgland, The Scotsman, 5 Apr. 2003)

• Ed Fagan meets local lawyers and claimants [South Africa] - Local lawyers and US class action lawyer Ed Fagan have announced in Johannesburg that they would be suing US company, Fluor International, for more than $700 million in damages for discriminatory wages paid to the company's employees in South Africa in the 70s and 80s. (SAPA, 5 Apr. 2003)

• Lawyers say to file apartheid suit against Fluor (Reuters, 5 Apr. 2003)

• Anglo Rejects $6bn Reparations Claim [South Africa] - Anglo American has swept aside pressure from a US lawyer that it must provide between $3 and $6 billion in reparations for apartheid-related damages. The group claims that questions of reparations to individuals is a matter for South Africa and its courts, if necessary. In a strongly worded statement issued on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Friday, the UK-listed mining group said it had already made "extensive contributions" to reconciliation and reconstruction in South Africa. (David Mckay, Mineweb [South Africa], 4 Apr. 2003)

Apartheid suit hits shares in Anglo American - Shares in dual-listed mining group Anglo American fell in London and Johannesburg on Friday as news broke of a lawsuit brought against the company on behalf of victims of the apartheid regime. (Rebecca Bream & Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 4 Apr. 2003)

Keller Rohrback Announces International Law Suit Filed on Behalf of Apartheid Victims--Makhetha, et al. v. Credit Commercial De France, et al. - The law firm of Keller Rohrback, L.L.P. and other firms in the United States, filed a complaint that seeks to hold French and Swiss banks and other financial institutions responsible for allegedly aiding and abetting the apartheid regime in South Africa...The suit alleges that these banks provided the funding that enabled South Africa to expand its police and security apparatus. (Keller Rohrback L.L.P., 30 Mar. 2003)

Anglo in 'slaves' charge [South Africa] - Mining group Anglo American is facing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit claiming that it profited from collaborating with apartheid-era South Africa. Lawyers representing thousands of victims of the racist regime are to file a legal action this week alleging that the UK-listed Anglo American exploited black workers, seized property and stripped the country of natural resources during the Seventies and Eighties. The legal claim follows a report by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission earlier this month, which singled out Anglo American as a beneficiary of apartheid and urged corporations to compensate victims. Anglo American denies wrongdoing...The lawyers...plan to lodge a complaint in the US courts by Friday. (Conal Walsh, Observer [UK], 30 Mar. 2003)

Firms Cautious On Calls for Apartheid Reparations [South Africa] - Stunned silence from large parts of the business sector greeted the news that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has recommended to government that SA's businesses be made to pay reparations to victims of apartheid unless they offer to play a more substantial role in reconstructing the country. The commission's suggestions included a wealth tax or a one off levy on corporate or private income. The commission singled out three business sectors that benefited particularly from apartheid policies: parastatals like Eskom, mining companies like Anglo American and international institutions like the Swiss banks. (Nicola Jenvey, Lesley Stones, Julie Bain, Carli Lourens & Charlotte Mathews, Business Day [South Africa], 26 Mar. 2003)

• Business responds to reparations call [South Africa] - Business leaders are not happy about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call for apartheid reparations. [refers to Anglo American, Grindrod, McCarthy] (iafrica.com, 26 Mar. 2003)

S Africa shuns apartheid lawsuits: Country needs investment, say ministers, not compensation - The South African government has refused to support a lawsuit against foreign multinationals and banks which allegedly propped up apartheid because it fears deterring investors. (Rory Carroll, Guardian [UK], 27 Nov. 2002)

NGO Launches US Apartheid Reparations Law Suit [lawsuit in U.S. court against companies for past conduct in South Africa] - A non-governmental organisation has filed a lawsuit against 21 multinational corporations and leading international banks for helping prop up the apartheid state...The companies and banks named in the lawsuit are: Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Exxon Mobil, Caltex Petroleum, Fluor Corporation, Ford, General Motors and IBM in the United States; German-based Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, DaimlerChrysler, and Rheinmetall; Credit Suisse and UBS in Switzerland; Barclays Bank; British Petroleum, Rio Tinto and Fujitsu ICL in the United Kingdom; Total-Fina-Elf from France and Royal Dutch Shell from the Netherlands.  The list was expected to grow by at least 100 names. (South African Press Association, 12 Nov. 2002)

• Global Firms in Court for Supporting' Apartheid - A lawsuit has been lodged in a US court against 21 global business giants alleged to have earned billions through propping up apartheid. (Rob Rose, Business Day [South Africa], 13 Nov. 2002)

• Apartheid victims file lawsuit in US (AFP, 12 Nov. 2002)

• International Law Suit Filed on Behalf of Apartheid Victims - Khulumani et al. v. Barclays et al. - Today the law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. along with other firms in the United States, joins with the South African firm, Abrahams Kiewitz, in filing a complaint that seeks to hold businesses responsible for aiding and abetting the apartheid regime in South Africa in furtherance of the commission of the crimes of apartheid, forced labor, genocide, extrajudicial killing, torture, sexual assault, and unlawful detention...For example: IBM and ICL provided the computers that enabled South Africa to create the hated “pass book system” and to control the black South African population. Car manufacturers provided the armored vehicles that were used to patrol the townships. Arms manufacturers violated the embargoes on sales to South Africa, as did the oil companies. The banks provided the funding that enabled South Africa to expand its police and security apparatus. (law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, 12 Nov. 2002)

• Summary of the Complaint - Khulumani et al. v. Barclays et al. (law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, 12 Nov. 2002)

Shell denies supported SAfrica's apartheid regime - Shell Petroleum Co denied allegations it was supportive of the apartheid regime, responding to news that the oil company is now included in a multi-billion class action lawsuit brought by US lawyers on behalf of the victims of South Africa's former regime. (AFX News, 6 Aug. 2002)

US holocaust lawyer to aid apartheid reparation -...Meanwhile the class action lawsuit against various banks and corporations that "profiteered" from apartheid will start in New York on August 9, the leader of the legal team leader, US attorney Ed Fagan, announced on Saturday. (SAPA, in Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 5 Aug. 2002)

Shell faces South Africa apartheid lawsuits - Royal Dutch/Shell, the oil company, is to be cited in a multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit brought by a team of lawyers on behalf of the victims of South Africa's apartheid regime, a lawyer said on Friday...Shell, which is accused of supplying the white minority regime with oil in violation of an anti-apartheid embargo, will be added to the list, which already includes IBM, the computer company, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, CommerzBank, UBS, Credit Suisse and Citicorp. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 2 Aug. 2002)

Banks and Human Rights: Should Swiss Banks Be Liable For Lending To South Africa's Apartheid Government? (Anita Ramasastry, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law, in FindLaw, 3 July 2002)

Apartheid victims sue big business -...A team of American and South African lawyers is about to file a $50bn class action suit in New York against Swiss and US banks accused of backing the former apartheid regime [suing Citigroup, Credit Suisse & UBS for allegedly profiting from loans to the white South African government while a UN embargo was in force] (BBC News, 17 June 2002)

• Banks sued for financing apartheid regime -...The banks' loans allegedly allowed the cash-strapped pariah regime to buy arms and continue its oppression of the black majority...Other suits will be filed against other companies and banks in Switzerland, France, Germany, Britain and South Africa that made money from supporting the apartheid government, Mr Fagan said on Monday. (Nicol Degli Innocenti, Financial Times, 17 June 2002)

• US lawyer to tackle apartheid profiteering (AFP, in Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 17 June 2002)

• Swiss, U.S. Banks Face Huge Apartheid Lawsuits (Reuters, 17 June 2002)

• Apartheid Victims to Sue Banks (Associated Press, 17 June 2002)

Collective Corporate Action: South Africa, in The Business of Peace: The Private Sector as a Partner in Conflict Prevention and Resolution (Jane Nelson/Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum [now International Business Leaders Forum], International Alert, Council on Economic Priorities, 2000) 

Truth Commission report: At a glance (BBC, Oct. 1998)

'Business central to sustaining SA state during the apartheid years' (Woza [South Africa], 29 Oct. 1998)

The uphill lies ahead: Business Past and Future - Theuns Eloff reviews business' past engagement in South Africa's political transition, and the impending challenges of its role as facilitator in the country's transformation (Theuns Eloff, Chief Executive, National Business Initiative, South Africa, in Track Two, Vol. 7, No. 2, Apr. 1998)

AHI [Afrikaans Chamber of Commerce] Apologises for Wrongs Committed under Apartheid (South African Press Association, 12 Nov. 1997)

Truth Commission: TRC business submissions continue (Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 12 Nov. 1997)

White business never undermined apartheid: Ndlovu (South African Press Association, 12 Nov. 1997)

Business does a Truth Commission egg dance (Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 10 Nov. 1997)

Business must confess to apartheid role: COSATU (South African Press Association, 10 Nov. 1997)

Local business has profited from the apartheid years (Business Day [Johannesburg], 29 Oct. 1997)

Sacob [South African Chamber of Business] defends its role (Sven Lunsche, Business Times [Johannesburg], 19 Oct. 1997)

Rich rewards for business in supporting apartheid's masters (Business Times [Johannesburg], 27 Oct. 1996)

Minister's book slams pro-apartheid business (Weekly Mail & Guardian [Johannesburg], 6 Sep. 1996)