§ 6. Mr. Leslie Huckfieldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement about his recent discussions with the South African Foreign Minister.
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeDr. Muller called on me on 9th April. The principal topics were South West Africa, Rhodesia and, among various bilateral matters, the employment practices of British firms in South Africa.
§ Mr. HuckfieldIn his talks with the South African Foreign Minister, did the right hon. Gentleman mention the subject of a possible visit to South Africa by a Select Committee of this House? As the official policy of Her Majesty's Government is, presumably, still against apartheid, and as many of us have seen with our own eyes the fact that British firms in South Africa, through the wages they pay and the employment conditions they operate for black Africans, are obviously propping up apartheid, is the right hon. Gentleman going to leave the whole matter to rest?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeThe matter of what the committee does or does not do is certainly not for me. It is for the committee to decide what it wishes to do. I cannot—and on second thoughts the hon. Gentleman would not wish me to do so—suggest to the committee what action it should take.
§ Mr. ThorpeThe Foreign Secretary was sufficiently broad-minded and internationalist to discuss with Dr. Muller the record of British firms operating in South Africa. Was Dr. Muller in return equally —in an internationalist sense—prepared to give an undertaking that he would do all that he could to see that the wages of those employed in those firms were correspondingly increased?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeDr. Muller said that the South African Government were interested in better pay for African workers. It was not his job to comment on the performance of British firms. But the Department of Trade and Industry has sent out a circular calling attention to the need for good employers.
§ Mr. SorefAre not the wages paid by British firms in South Africa higher than those paid anywhere else in the African continent?
§ Mr. HuckfieldRubbish.
§ Mr. SorefAre not those countries which are receiving bounties from the British Exchequer in the form of aid paying the lowest wages?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeWithout notice I should find it difficult to give the necessary statistics. I understand that this is what the committee is to inquire into.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonWill the Foreign Secretary tell us something about the discussions that took place on Namibia? As the South African Government have made it perfectly plain that they would not respond to any kind of plan which would meet the view of the Security Council about Namibia, is it not now time that we enforced the International Court's judgment in this respect if we want to enforce its judgment in respect of Iceland?
§ Sir Alec Douglas-HomeDr. Waldheim has been trying to arrange with the South African Government visits to Namibia, and there have been two which have been successful and have shown some advance. It is our hope that Dr. Waldheim will continue this operation.