hands in the event of a shift in political control to the black majority. With the parastatals in the hands of a white-controlled private sector, the political and economic leverage of any incoming government will be significantly reduced. 51. The various reform proposals are severely constrained by the apartheid system itself. Internationally, sanctions will make access to markets a continuing problem; internally, apartheid will mean small domestic markets and scarcity of skilled labour. 52. Responses of the South African Government to economic sanctions have revealed some of the loopholes and shortcomings in the measures currently in force, such as: failure to adopt comprehensive mandatory sanctions because of opposition in the United Nations Security Council; limitations in the scope and narrowness in the interpretation of sanctions; and inadequate enforcement, monitoring and co-ordinating mechanisms. 53. With regard to trade. South Africa has been able to evade sanctions by diverting imports and exports through third countries and offshore facilities such as free ports and free-trade zones. In the conduit countries, various techniques are used to disguise the South African origin of the product. They include practices such as false labelling, acquiring false certificates of origin and transformation as in the case of coal channelled to Europe through Rotterdam and Antwerp. These often go without detection because of low priority given to enforcement and monitoring. 54. Sanctions have also been undermined by third countries taking advantage of sanctions imposed by other States. As the United States, Nordic and some Commonwealth countries have reduced their trade with South Africa, some countries in the Far East and Europe are increasing theirs. The Commonwealth report, however, warns against overemphasizing sanctions-busting and diversion of trade. Between 1985 and 1989, the increases in trade by South Africa's traditional trading partners such as West Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Spain have been much larger than trade with new partners.
**Analysis**
The text primarily focuses on the economic implications of sanctions and the strategies employed by South Africa to evade them. It highlights the constraints faced by any incoming government due to the apartheid system and the limitations of international sanctions. The text also discusses the ways in which South Africa has managed to circumvent sanctions, including the use of third countries and offshore facilities.

**Category**
International Trade