The South African connection
Patrick Cosgrave
As a result of all the conjecture preceding publication of Sir Harold Wilson's resignation honours list, the wider public has become acquainted with the name of Mr Sigmund Sternberg.
Considered against the background of Sir Harold's repeated aspersions on the political activities of unnamed South African interests in this country, Sigmund Sternberg's commercial role in Southern Africa is worth examining.
Mr Michael Meacher, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Trade, forms part of the narrative.
Mr Sternberg founded—and is still managing director of—Mountstar Metal. Mountstar is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Amalgamated Metal Corporation, which values its connection with Mr Sternberg highly, largely because of his expertise in African—and especially Southern African—affairs. The companies are concerned less with mining than with the movement of minerals and metals. According to their latest annual report Amalgamated have three offices on the African continent, source of so much metal business: these are in Johannesburg, Salisbury and Bulawayo. Labour politicians are seldom anxious, for reasons of doctrine and policy, to parade the connections of their friends with South
Africa; and Rhodesia is, of course, anath. ema. To be fair, Mr Sternberg has tried' without losing his white African connee' tions, to expand North of the Zambesi. One such effort is worth recalling, be" cause of its connection with Mr Wilson (as he still was). A distinguished African digit); mat and politician was surpriSed, a couple° years ago, to be invited to a dinner given bY Mr Wilson for Mr Michael Comay, the retiring Israeli Ambassador, especially as his country had broken off diplomatic relations with Israel. To his surprise the conversation with Mr Sternberg was not of high diP1°matic matters, but of the metal business la Africa, which Amalgamated hoped to gni in competition with another British coin' pany, Lonrho. At the time Lonrho was under a cloud. There had been the famous boardroont battle between the Chief Executive, Mr Roland Rowland, and Sir Basil Smallpeiee' which was essentially about whether the future of the company lay in black Africa (as Mr Rowland believed) or in South Africa and Britain (as Sir Basil insisted). Mr Row: land had also run foul of Mr Edward Flea'' who had ordered a Department of Tea,,uc inquiry into the affairs of the company. ('') far the report of that inquiry—bY Companies' Division—has not appeared./ Mr Meacher, in 1973 a humble baa: bencher noted for his interest in socia1! security, and for his tenacious questioning° social service ministers in the Conservative government, took a passionate interest la, Lonrho's difficulties. On 13 December 191", he wrote a five-page letter to the SecretarY State for Trade, Sir Geoffrey Howe, offer; ing evidence against the company. 111 merits of this evidence are difficult to assess' since Mr Meacher enclosed no docurnerne, tion. Sir Geoffrey referred it to his InsPeer°, and wrote to Mr Meacher saying he hael, done so. Not content, Mr Meacher pursued" the matter in the House of Commons, arta had a further exchange of correspondent, with Sir Geoffrey, reiterating his arotie about the conduct of Lonrho's affairs, OA the conduct of Mr Rowland in particularLo number of foreign diplomats in Looew_n later received through the post, and frorn unknown source, photostats of some this correspondence. bee° The only purpose of this could have d it to damage Mr Rowland's interests. 1-.3 en been effective he would, of course, have be in danger of losing business to other companies, including Amalgamated. However, ,,hls enemies have always underestimated Mr rowland's standing in black Africa, and news of the affair soon reached him. He protested to the Department, but Sir Geoffrey w, as, of course, helpless. Some of Mr Rowland's friends were inclined to blame the bePartment for lax security; others blamed Mr Meacher. There was, however, another possible source of the action, and this was BOSS, the South African Bureau of State Security, at the time helping the South African police rePare a prosecution against Mr Rowland. ironically the interests of BOSS, Amalgamated, Mr Meacher, and even the Department °.f Trade's Inspectors all coincided, whichgo/en the unsavoury reputation of BOSS, !sPecially in Britain—may be thought unFortunate. The matter went so far, indeed, Lhat Mr Allan Heyman, QC, acting for the !-'ePartment, called on BOSS headquarters in Pretoria in February 1974, saw General KrUger and Brigadier Buys, and asked unsuccessfully to inspect the BOSS files on Lonrho. Apparently these contained little of substance,
Attorney since in September 1974 the
General of the Transvaal announced that he was dropping unreservedly ali charges against Mr Rowland. With that itetlon a great part of the case against Mr 'owland disappeared. Mr Meacher disaPpeared from the agitation. Subsequently, he became a minister at the tue11Partment of Trade. However, in spite of 10e, energy he displayed in 1973 and early (14, in the investigation of Lonhro, the 1alnous report has yet to appear, though Sir eciffreY Howe believes it was completed in 't Middle of last year. Nor has any exoneration ... , Mr Rowland been published.
„ meanwhile the whole important issue of °le attitude of the Labour Party and governMent to British companies trading in Africa lrld whether some are to be encouraged "lie others are discouraged—remains unesPlored. In the complicated world of modern comshi,e.ree Politicians and business men neces.411Y become much more involved in one Other's worlds than was the case in the tirt. It is all the more necessary, therefore, c at no suspicion should ever, even by un; "seious action, be allowed to rise suggests'nhg. that favouritism operates in this relation Especially in the difficult business of w"l,e Political handling of economic relations aiith South Africa indignation must never be 'owed even to appear selective. ar,!.f .°11e company is pilloried while the bs-LivIties of another go unremarked imcr,alanee is created. Individuals as well as th'InDanies—and even the public interest r.ebY suffer. And when it comes about that n;linelans bestow favours or honours on s:T1 of business then the reasons for doing Must be crystal clear, and utterly unca Peaehable. This is particularly so in the ense of the Labour Party which, quite reasrn-abl,Y, is more prone to the formulation of al judgments than its rivals.
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