29 June 2008, 13:29
Consumers with a conscience, beware: clothing made in "Myanmar" - the country known as Burma until its name was changed by its oppressive military regime - is still to be found on the shelves, notably at Mr Price and Pick n Pay.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), an estimated 800 000 people are forced labourers in Burma.
A visit by The Sunday Independent to a Pick n Pay and to a Mr Price at Campus Square shopping centre, in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, this week uncovered a number of fleecy and other kinds of jackets in both stores labelled "Made in Myanmar".
The Sunday Independent visit followed a call from a reader who said he was aghast at seeing that the fleecy jacket he wanted had been made in Myanmar.
Both Mr Price and Pick n Pay said they had cancelled their contracts with Burmese manufacturers and that the garments still on the shelves were "old stock" that was "still working its way through the system".
"Once these clothes are sold, there will be no more on the shelves," said Steve Ellis, joint managing director of the Mr Price group.
And Michael Coles, Pick n Pay's chief of clothing, said: "We gave notice two or three months ago to our Myanmar factory. We won't be selling any more clothes from there."
But Graham Bailey, of the Free Burma Campaign, said: "One doesn't want to cast unnecessary aspersions on such well-known South African companies, but it seems to me that they're telling lies.
"It was about seven months ago, when the fuss blew up about Gary Player's golf course in Burma, that these companies distanced themselves from selling clothes from Myanmar and said they weren't going to do it any more. They said then that they would stop and would cancel all orders. But they haven't.
"I have to believe that responsible and experienced retailers know exactly what orders they have in the pipeline. I also don't think it takes six months for the ships carrying those clothes to reach these shores. This is just evasion."
There is no South African government embargo on goods from Burma - though there are United States and European Union embargoes - "so there's no law against us importing clothes made in Myanmar", said Pick n Pay's Coles.
"But we have received many calls from the public, who said they were 'horrified', and we have ceased placing orders. There are still some goods on the water, but what you see in the shops are the last of our winter orders and everything ought to be gone by September."
"Maybe South African businesses have to start being a bit more moral," said Bailey.
Burma has been ruled by military regimes uninterruptedly since 1962. In May 1990, the regime held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years and the National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest, won 392 of the 489 seats. But the military annulled the election.
In November 2006, the ILO announced that it would try to prosecute members of the junta at the International Court of Justice for "crimes against humanity", including the continuous forced labour of citizens imposed by the military.
Some global corporations have been criticised for profiting from the dictatorship by financing Burma's military junta.
World governments remain divided on how to deal with it. The United Kingdom, US and France have called for further sanctions, but China has opposed their proposals.
Last month, Cyclone Nargis devastated the country. Winds of up to 215 km/h hit the densely populated, rice-farming Irrawaddy Delta. Recent reports estimate that more than 130 000 people are dead or missing. But, in the following days, Burma's regime delayed the entry of United Nations aircraft carrying medicine, food, and other supplies.
The junta also rejected a US offer to provide assistance, though on May 13 the first US military transport aircraft was allowed to land, bringing 14 tons of medical supplies, mosquito nets and blankets.
The government's failure to permit the entry of international relief was described by the UN as "unprecedented".
* This article was originally published on page 3 of The Sunday Independent on June 29, 2008
Consumers with a conscience, beware: clothing made in "Myanmar" - the country known as Burma until its name was changed by its oppressive military regime - is still to be found on the shelves, notably at Mr Price and Pick n Pay.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), an estimated 800 000 people are forced labourers in Burma.
A visit by The Sunday Independent to a Pick n Pay and to a Mr Price at Campus Square shopping centre, in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, this week uncovered a number of fleecy and other kinds of jackets in both stores labelled "Made in Myanmar".
The Sunday Independent visit followed a call from a reader who said he was aghast at seeing that the fleecy jacket he wanted had been made in Myanmar.
Both Mr Price and Pick n Pay said they had cancelled their contracts with Burmese manufacturers and that the garments still on the shelves were "old stock" that was "still working its way through the system".
"Once these clothes are sold, there will be no more on the shelves," said Steve Ellis, joint managing director of the Mr Price group.
And Michael Coles, Pick n Pay's chief of clothing, said: "We gave notice two or three months ago to our Myanmar factory. We won't be selling any more clothes from there."
But Graham Bailey, of the Free Burma Campaign, said: "One doesn't want to cast unnecessary aspersions on such well-known South African companies, but it seems to me that they're telling lies.
"It was about seven months ago, when the fuss blew up about Gary Player's golf course in Burma, that these companies distanced themselves from selling clothes from Myanmar and said they weren't going to do it any more. They said then that they would stop and would cancel all orders. But they haven't.
"I have to believe that responsible and experienced retailers know exactly what orders they have in the pipeline. I also don't think it takes six months for the ships carrying those clothes to reach these shores. This is just evasion."
There is no South African government embargo on goods from Burma - though there are United States and European Union embargoes - "so there's no law against us importing clothes made in Myanmar", said Pick n Pay's Coles.
"But we have received many calls from the public, who said they were 'horrified', and we have ceased placing orders. There are still some goods on the water, but what you see in the shops are the last of our winter orders and everything ought to be gone by September."
"Maybe South African businesses have to start being a bit more moral," said Bailey.
Burma has been ruled by military regimes uninterruptedly since 1962. In May 1990, the regime held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years and the National League for Democracy, the party of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still under house arrest, won 392 of the 489 seats. But the military annulled the election.
In November 2006, the ILO announced that it would try to prosecute members of the junta at the International Court of Justice for "crimes against humanity", including the continuous forced labour of citizens imposed by the military.
Some global corporations have been criticised for profiting from the dictatorship by financing Burma's military junta.
World governments remain divided on how to deal with it. The United Kingdom, US and France have called for further sanctions, but China has opposed their proposals.
Last month, Cyclone Nargis devastated the country. Winds of up to 215 km/h hit the densely populated, rice-farming Irrawaddy Delta. Recent reports estimate that more than 130 000 people are dead or missing. But, in the following days, Burma's regime delayed the entry of United Nations aircraft carrying medicine, food, and other supplies.
The junta also rejected a US offer to provide assistance, though on May 13 the first US military transport aircraft was allowed to land, bringing 14 tons of medical supplies, mosquito nets and blankets.
The government's failure to permit the entry of international relief was described by the UN as "unprecedented".
* This article was originally published on page 3 of The Sunday Independent on June 29, 2008
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