In a move hailed as a "breakthrough" by victims of apartheid violations, the government has made a U-turn on apartheid-era lawsuits and is now supporting legal action by victims of apartheid violations against multinational companies…This is in direct contrast to Thabo Mbeki's government, which appealed to the court to dismiss the litigation…After a series of appeals, the case received the go-ahead in April, but the judge narrowed to five the number of companies subject to the claims. They are Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, IBM, General Motors and Rheinmetall, all of which have said they will oppose the claims.