TRENDS IN U S IMPERIALISM 31 banks have advanced sizable loans to South Africa. Particularly in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 1973, Soweto uprisings and the defeat of South African invasion of Angola (1976), the bank loans assumed mammoth proportions.19 In 1979, South African debts to U S banks alone amounted to one billion dollars. The role of American multinational companies (MNCs) in South Africa and Namibia deserves special attention. Over 400 U S MNGs, predominantly with long-term commitments are operating in South Africa. Their investments amount to 20 per cent of the total foreign long-term direct investments. About 13 US multinational firms which are operating in South Africa also pivy an important role in the American economy. On an average, the profits repatriated by these firms are three times those of U S mining firms operating in the rest of Africa. These firms have also indulged in joint ventures with South African mining firms. Thus, the flow of U S dollars into the South African economy plays a major role. On the one hand, they strengthen the influence and interests oi U S-based multinationals in shaping the exploitative South African political economy and, on the other, contribute the capital, managerial skills and technology which South Africa requires to build its industrial base and expand its neo-colonial role in relation to its economically weak neighbours.20 As in the case of South Africa, approximately 170 U S MNCs have been operating, directly or indirectly, in Namibia. The annual average rate of return on the original investment of some of these firms has been estimated at 347.79 per cent for every year during 1954-1974.21 Pervasive and growing U S stakes in South Africa have almost prohibited all the American governments from getting into a head long clash with the racist regime. American governments have been basically reformist and pleaded for reforms within the apartheid structure to contain black militants. Even the Carter administration, whose electoral pledge was the safeguard of human rights, was also reformist. However, it was a little more receptive to the strength of militant nationalism in the region than the Nixon administration. The USA under Garter contributed, to a certain extent, towards the liberation of Zimbabwe through a negotiated settlement. Zimbabwe's independence has made South Africa more vulnerable, since pressure has been mounting in the U N to hasten the transition to majority rule in Namibia. The U S and South African interests coincide on the question of Namibian independence. As a member of the Western contact group, the U S is invovled in the U N efforts to lead Namibia to independence. However the Reagan administration has linked the question of Namibian independence to the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola. The posture adopted by the Reagan administration basically aims at undermining the Soviet-Cuban influence in Southern Africa. The Reagan administration has also been encouraging Jonas