Investment in South Africa

Caltex plant was established in South Africa in 1977 after the owners decided to expand its operations in South Africa. The construction of the plant brought controversy over the interested parties, there were two dimensions of the utilitarian benefits of the Caltex plant, and there were violations of the justice and of moral rights whereas on the other side there were possible benefits to the South Africans. The plant setup was helpful in that it provided job opportunities to majority of South African blacks, for their families and dependants. By 1976, American companies in south Africa had employed more than 60,000 people, this ensured that they had something to rely on for their survival, another benefit is that Caltex provided support to south Africa’s economy hence aided the government in stabilizing general price level and controlling inflation, this prevented the shooting of prices, thus local blacks could afford commodities cheaply.

It was an argument put by Caltex that it had made a progress in implementation of the code of conduct draft by Rev. Dr. Leon Sullivan which was comprised of six principles, (investor research 1986) thereby adding to their argument that there continued operations was focused on the plight of the blacks. Caltex ensured implementation of equal pay for equal work and benefits without any racial discrimination in South Africa; it had made a positive stride of 40%. The other benefit is that Caltex wages was above the minimum south African government wage level, thereby aiding in blacks welfare whose per capita in 1980 at 30% while in Johannesburg alone wages had gone up by 118%.

Though the construction of Caltex plant had many benefits as discussed, the investment turned to be a tragedy and seriou...

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...le in the surroundings, such as sponsorships, workshops and even education scholarships.Primarily, the company should not only look at the rate of return when determining which investments to take up as the ultimate criteria, the mankind and God’s law should be respected, pollution, health hazards and core moral and social values are a great thing to look at when deciding on the investment scheme to take up as all are of equal importance. Again, those managers who come up with damageful opinions should be held accountable and even face the law for such thoughts that violate basic principles of mankind and humanity.

REFERENCES

Caltex in South Africa. (n.d.). Retrieved june 17, 2011, from HubPages: http://hubpages.com/hub/CalTex-in-South-Africa

Velasquez, M. (1995). A South African Investment. In BUSINESS ETHICS: CONCEPTS AND CASES . pearson education.