He did not think the case would hurt South Africa's economy but said there was a "bigger risk" for the rest of the continent.
"There are many governments which may yet blot their copy book ... and if one wants to get investment flowing into these countries people will say 'hang on. What if this chap does something alarming and there's a reparations trial and I as an American investor am held responsible?'"
That's as it should be, said Stephen Gelb, director of the Edge Institute for economic research.
He said: "I think if there are more cases like this then it will become a consideration, in effect a future contingency that they would have to take into account."
Africans affiliated to Jubilee 2000's apartheid debt and reparations
campaign and the Khulumani Support Group. - Dripa B on 2007-11-09