Burma: Golf Courses And Trade 1
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund has withdrawn support for the Nelson Mandela Invitational Golf Tournament hosted by Gary Player, due to Player’s golf course design firm having built a course in Burma. The tournament will also have to drop ‘Nelson Mandela’ from the tournament title.
But what about more concrete actions that help the Burmese junta stay in power. Actions such as international trade. Well according to the Department of Foreign Affairs:
South Africa mostly exports base metals, chemical products, prepared foodstuffs and mineral products to Myanmar and imports mostly footwear, headgear, vegetable products and machinery from Myanmar.
And what about actions on the global diplomatic stage? On that front SA joined Russia and China in opposing a UN Security Council vote condemning the Burmese government’s long and varied list of human rights abuses.
Perhaps that the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund will allow the tournament to go ahead with the stipulation that it is hosted in another country who does not trade with Burma.
We import machinery from Myanmar/Burma? Is this a joke? To the best of my knowledge they don’t manufacture anything there. Footwear? Headgear? Hahaha!
Nice to have you back, Farrel, been missing you.