In August 1985 Apple withdrew from all business activity in South Africa, over a year before the U.S. Congress enacted the Comprehensive Antiapartheid Act, imposing trade and investment sanctions on the country. It wasn’t until President Bush lifted sanctions in 1991 that U.S. companies were legally able to reinvest in the country. Since 2001, the country of 45 million at the southern tip of Africa has been dependent upon the Core Group as the sole distributor of Apple gear to various resellers. Then in Jan. 2005 Apple closed its South African representative office and transferred all responsibilities to Core Group, designating them as an "independent marketing company," acting as a subsidiary to market Apple’s products and services.