South Africa

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the status of the administration's implementation of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act to assess its: (1) enforcement of the act's policies; (2) operation of apartheid victim assistance programs; and (3) efforts to obtain multilateral cooperation for sanctions against South Africa.

GAO found that: (1) the administration completed most of the 12 reports that the act required; (2) the administration implemented the act's policy objectives mainly through diplomatic initiatives; (3) although two agencies used post-shipment checks to determine act violations, they did not receive additional funds for their enforcement activities; (4) the Agency for International Development spent only $25 million of the $47 million in appropriated funds made available for victim assistance programs; and (5) although the Department of State continued its diplomatic discussions with other nations on multilateral sanctions, it made no effort to convene the required international conference because it did not consider the conference mandatory. GAO also found that: (1) although the act banned imports of uranium ore and its derivatives from South Africa, other countries convert the compounds into gas and then ship it to the United States; and (2) the Department of State submitted a list of strategic materials that were exempt from the prohibition on imports and has developed a preliminary program to reduce U.S. dependence on South African strategic materials.