Press Release: Prof. Dennis Brutus and Jubilee South Africa to oppose the
Absa/Barclays Deal in Court

Jubilee South Africa
30th of June 2005

On the 5th of July 2005, at 10:00h in the Johannesburg High Court, Professor
Dennis Brutus and Jubilee will make ex-parte applications to the High Court,
stating their opposition to the takeover of Absa by Barclays.

The anti-apartheid activist and poet Professor Dennis Brutus will approach
the Court on Tuesday (05/07/05), advising it that Barclays Bank aiding and
abetted the Apartheid Regime and has been misleading in information provided
to the JSE and SRP, including the glaring obmission that Barclays is the
lead defendant in ongoing litigation in the USA. Further, Professor Brutus
will argue that Barclays Bank has no record of respecting the basic
principles of human rights in South Africa, and that it is unlikely that
Barclays Bank will start to respect human rights after purchasing Absa.

For information about Professor Dennis Brutus, please see the biography at
the end of this release.

While Jubilee South Africa will also bring Barclays Bank's Apartheid past,
it will focus on presenting the views of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission on business and business's culpability. For example, the
application to the High Court reads, in part:

"The TRC also considered that the in principle a private corporation might
be held liable to victims of apartheid as a matter of civil law
independently of the TRC process. This the TRC explained by stating that a
reparations claim against corporations like Anglo American would be based on
the extent to which decades of profits were based on systemic violations of
human rights. In legal terms, the TRC explained, this could be based on the
principle of unjust enrichment. It held that unjust enrichment is a source
of legal obligation.

"In the light hereof [Jubilee South Africa] believe[s] that Barclays Bank
could similarly be held liable under the civil law of this country for
aiding and abetting the South African government for the human rights abuses
it committed against the people of South Africa."

After the Court has heard and decided upon these applications, Jubilee South
Africa and Professor Dennis Brutus will hold a press conference at 14:00h on
the 5th of July 2005, to which all members of the press are welcome. The
conference will held at Jubilee South Africa's office (see address below).
In addition to the greed of Absa and Barclays, questions concerning the G8
meeting and debt relief will also be welcomed and addressed.

Jubilee South Africa
Auckland House
185 Smit Street
12th Floor East Wing
Braamfontein 2001

In addition to the Court applications and the press conference, Jubilee
South Africa has planned to hold a demonstration outside of the Johannesburg
High Court on the 5th of July from 10:00h to 11:00h.

For additional information, contact:

Tristen Taylor
Apartheid Debt and Reparations Campaign Coordinator
Tel: +27 11 403-7624/22
Cell: +27 84 250-2434
[email protected]

Biography of DENNIS BRUTUS

Brutus turned 80 last November, but has not paused even momentarily. Early
2005 saw him moving between activist events in Pittsburgh (where he is
professor emeritus), Johannesburg (where he addressed an anti-war rally in
solidarity with Iraqis and Palestinians under occupation)), Boulder, Malta,
Bandung and San Francisco. With Jubilee South Africa, he recently initiated
the launch of a campaign against Barclays Bank, demanding reparations for
vast apartheid profits.

One of the first South African poets to be widely read in Europe and the
U.S., Brutus' work found early critical acclaim. His first book, Letters to
Martha, was published while he was imprisoned for defying a 'banning' order
by the apartheid government following his campaign to isolate white South
Africa's sports teams.

After being shot in the back by Johannesburg police during an escape attempt
and breaking rocks for 18 months at the notorious Robben Island prison
alongside Nelson Mandela, Brutus was exiled, and resumed simultaneous
careers as a poet and anti-apartheid campaigner. He was instrumental in
achieving the apartheid regime's expulsion from the Olympics, won numerous
awards for poetry, and helped organize key African writers' organizations
with Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe.

Upon moving to the U.S., Brutus served in several academic positions,
including at Northwestern University and the University of Pittsburgh,
defeating efforts by the Reagan Administration to deport him. Following the
transition to democracy in South Africa, Brutus remained active with
grassroots social movements in his home country and internationally.

In the late 1990s, he became a pivotal figure in the global justice movement
and a featured speaker each year at the World Social Forum. In the
anti-racism, reparations and economic justice movements, he continues to
serve as a leading strategist, working closely with the Center for Economic
Justice, 50 Years is Enough!, and the Jubilee anti-debt movement. In South
Africa, he is a key figure in the Social Movements Indaba, the coalition of
progressive activists who marched more than 25,000 people against the World
Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. He also works closely with South
Africa's Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Anti-War Coalition.

Brutus's latest book is Leafdrift (Whirlwind Press, Camden, 2005).