Prior to its $354 million sale of 59.5% to Milco, a newly formed consortium of the
Central Bottling Company (CBC), the deal was met with opposition by
BDS, the Palestine Solidarity Alliance,
Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the South African Jews for a Free Palestine. BDS SA spokesman Tisetso Magama said that CBC “has operations in Israel’s illegal settlements – both in the occupied Palestinian
West Bank and in the occupied Syrian
Golan Heights,” adding that “CBC and its subsidiaries own a regional distribution centre in the illegal Israeli
Atarot settlement industrial zone, a vineyard near
Mount Shifon in the occupied Golan Heights and a dairy farm, as well as offices in the illegal Israeli settlement of
Shadmot Mehola in the Jordan Valley – all in violation of international law.” Brimstone Investments, one of the initial consortium members of the deal, pulled out. Several trade unions in South Africa were against the approval of the deal: In a joint statement, trade unions such as the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa and
Food and Allied Workers Union representing workers at Clover and its subsidiaries, together with their union federation,
South African Federation of Trade Unions and Palestinian solidarity organizations in South Africa, “condemned the recent judgment by the Competition Tribunal of South Africa on the takeover of Clover by Israeli-led company, Milco SA.” They cited three main objections to the deal, claiming that “the takeover will have negative consequences for South African workers who will face job losses in the context of an already-struggling economy,” as well as “manipulative, unethical and anti-competitive practices by... the CBC... against which there are adverse findings in Israel,” and claims that the “CBC violation of international law, including
UN resolutions and
Geneva Conventions and the violation of human rights.” == Business ==