NOT ALL observers reject the Sullivan principles as useless. Those who maintain that the principles have been effective in promoting some change fall generally into two groups. One group believes that the principles as they are presently applied have done all that can be expected of their limited purview. Further change, this group maintains, depends on a radical reformation of the principles and an expansion of their goals. The second group believes that further progress can be achieved in South Africa without changing the principles.

Rev. Sullivan himself is in the first group "Equal pay for equal work must be translated into reality through the recognition of free Black trade unions so we can empower millions of Black workers," Sullivan says. "There must be massive resources dedicated to Black education. Personal freedom, to live and work where they [Blacks] want must be achieved."

To achieve the goals he outlines, Sullivan proposes that his principles be made mandatory for American companies operating in South Africa and that heavy penalties be imposed against compliance that do not receive the most favorable compliance ratings. Investors should divest from companies that consistently fail to get acceptance compliance ratings, the minister said Sullivan said he seeks to have 1000 companies endorse the principles.

Universities should take a more active role in producing change in South Africa, Sullivan adds. "Harvard has not been doing its job. If they are really going to use their resources to help, they should use their resources to divest from companies that have not signed."

In terms of what has been accomplished thus far, however, proponents of the principles say they have done about as much as can be expected.

"I feel the principles have given some help in the overall situation in South Africa," says Allen M. Mayes, an official with the General Board of Pensions for the United Methodist Church. The Board of Pensions supervises investment of $1.3 billion in Methodist pension funds. Mayes, the secretary of the church's Committee on Corporate and Fiduciary Responsibility, ensures that investments match the ethical principles of the church. "They are the best tool we have [to promote reform]; they are the only tools we have," he says.

"The Sullivan principles have had a substantial effect on conditions in the workplace," says Weedon. "The Sullivan companies are really leading the parade for reform down there. They are one of the things that will help erode apartheid."

As an example of the effectiveness of U.S. companies, he cites a recent court victory in South Africa that makes it substantially less difficult for Black to live where they work Legal support for the defendant in the case was provided by the South African Legal Resources Center, a private legal aid foundation supported by many signatory companies.

Despite all the arguments for the Sullivan principles, however, activists remain unconvinced believe that the only effective means of bringing apartheid to its knees is complete financial dissolution.

"The Sullivan principles are a shameful compromise born out of a push for divestiture," said Kenneth Carstens, fellow at the Center for International Affairs, leader of an Institute of Politics Discussion Group on South Africa and South African politician. "The South African government supports the principles, and they're not going to support them if they're not good for apartheid Carstens adds.