"Not a human standard of living".

Only three major British companies are paying all their African employees above the poverty datum line. The P.D.L. is minimum income level, determined by nutritionists and social researchers, needed by an average African family simply to exist. It does not allow for medicines, education, savings, holidays, furniture, blankets or any 'luxuries' at all, even the odd bus ride. Although estimates of the P.D.L. vary, it is, on average, calculated to be about $16 doubled from the figure in pounds given by "The Guardian") a week, for an African family.

According to Professor F.L. Batson of the University of Cape Town, the P.D.L. "is not a human standard of living. It admirably fulfils its purpose of stating the lowest minimum upon which subsistence and health can theoretically be achieved". The P.D.L. is in fact so low a standard that most social researchers use the concept of the 'Minimum Effective Level' to express the minimum income needed for an African family to lead a decent life. Not a single British company in South Africa employing substantial numbers of Africans is paying all its workers at or above this "humane" level, corresponding roughly to $26-$30 a week". Average African wages at Rio Tinto Zinc's Palabora mine are almost up to this minimum. But the company's African Affairs Adviser, Mr W. Felgate, is under no illusion that it is a living wage: "What can a man do with 96 rand (about $110 a month)?Let's face it, it's a bum wage. But at least at 96 rand, diseases like kwashiorkor and pellagra disappear".

The companies whose South African subsidaries are paying substantial numbers of workers well below the poverty datum line include: Slater Walker (subsidiary Natal Tanning Extract), Associated Portland Cement (Whites Portland Cement) Tate and Lyle (llloyo Sugar Estates), Metal Box, Courtaulds (S.A. Fabrics), General Electric, Reed, Rowntree Mackintosh, Chloride Electrical, Associated British Foods and British Leyland. Several of these companies have connections with New Zealand businesses. Allied Bakeries (N.Z.) Ltd is a subsidiary of an Australian subsidiary of Associated British Foods. Reed has investments in the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company. British Leyland has connections with the New Zealand Motor Corporation, and General Electric owns Associated Electrical Industries and the English Electric Company.