Williams to visit South Africa along with National Advisory Council to U.S. firms

W ith a re fe ren du m ap ­ proaching that could rede­ fine the position of blacks in South Africa, Notre Dame’s Associate Provost F a the r O live r W illia m s hopes to find out how the U.S. can assist in this change when he v is its the R epub lic o f South A frica over the next three weeks. As a representative of the N ational Advisory Council to U.S. f irm s w ith operations in South Africa, W illia m s w il l accom pany two other members o f the Council. The three w ill meet w ith g o ve rn m e n t and church o ffic ia ls as w e ll as the le a d e rs h ip o f the A frica n N ationa l Council, Inkatha and the black labor movement. “ In the p a s t,” sa id Williams, “ the leaders have asked us to hold o ff on any new in ve s tm e n ts in the country.” But at this year’s annual meetings, his fifth , W illia m s a n tic ip a te s the leaders to w ith d ra w th e ir request. “ Nelson Mandela has a l­ ready said Am erican com­ panies may be able to invest as early as th is sum m er,” said Williams, who met w ith imminent, we w ill probably be ab le to o ffe r crash programs to the U.S. firm s in h ir in g and tra in in g b la c k s ,” sa id W illia m s . “ Right now there are very fe w b la cks in business le a d e rs h ip p o s itio n s , hopefully that w ill begin to change.” W illia m s and the C ou nc il’s rep resen ta tives w ill also be looking for ways to support de C lerk in his e ffo rts to re s tru c tu re the coun try ’s government. “ De Clerk has made a bold move and in th is referendum he is looking fo r support,” said Williams. “ Hopefully we can find out how the U.S. can help reaffirm his efforts.” W illiam s, author of “The Apartheid Crisis,” was ap­ pointed to attend the meet­ ing w ith M e lv in M ille r , a Boston law yer and trustee o f Boston U n ive rs ity , and Ned Monger, a professor at the C a lifo rn ia In s titu te o f Technology. A lso w h ile in South A fr ic a , W illia m s w i l l address the f ir s t-e v e r meeting of the Notre Dame C lub o f South A fr ic a on March 6 in Johannesburg. Nineteen members make up the charter membership of the c lu b , w h ic h is the s ix te e n th o u ts id e o f the United States. /OL. XXIV NO. T h e O b s e r v e r Saint MarvS College »OTRE DAME■ INDIANA