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South Africa diversified its exports in the early 1980s to include textiles and household products. This leaflet asked shoppers to boycott clothes made in South Africa and karakul furs exported from Namibia. In 1985 the TUC wrote to major clothing retailers asking them not to stock clothing made in South Africa. Several chains announced they would not renew their South African contracts. South African textile exports to Britain fell by 35% between 1983 and 1986.

Commonwealth leaders met in London, 3–5 August 1986, to discuss further sanctions against South Africa. Earlier in the year a Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group mission concluded that the apartheid government was not prepared to negotiate an end to minority rule. The AAM mounted an intensive campaign to show that public opinion in Britain rejected Prime Minister Thatcher’s anti-sanctions policy. It held a three-day vigil outside the summit and published an Emergency Declaration in the Observer newspaper. On the opening day of the summit ANC leader Alfred Nzo and Trevor Huddleston led a march from an inter-faith service at St James’s, Piccadilly to Marlborough House.

ANC Secretary General Alfred Nzo and AAM Chair Bob Hughes MP at a vigil held outside the mini-summit of Commonwealth leaders at Marlborough House, 3–5 August 1986. They placed a wreath on a coffin symbolising all those who had died in South Africa’s attacks on the frontline states. At the mini-summit the Commonwealth imposed a package of sanctions against South Africa.

British trade union leaders at a vigil outside the mini-summit of Commonwealth leaders at Marlborough House, 3–5 August 1986. At the mini-summit Commonwealth leaders imposed a package of sanctions against South Africa. Left to right: TUC General Secretary Norman Willis, Ron Todd (TGWU), David Williams (COHSE)  and Brenda Dean (SOGAT).

At a mini-summit in London, 3–5 August 1986, Commonwealth leaders agreed on a package of sanctions against South Africa, in spite of opposition from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Earlier in the year a Commonwealth ‘Eminent Persons Group’ visited South Africa and concluded that the apartheid government was not prepared to negotiate an end to white minority rule. Left to right: Commonwealth leaders Brian Mulroney (Canada), Sir Lyndon Pindling (The Bahamas), Kenneth Kaunda (Zamibia), Rajiv Gandhi (India), Margaret Thatcher (UK), Bob Hawke (Australia) and Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe).

Report on the British government’s failure to implement measures against South Africa agreed by the Commonwealth, UN Security Council and European Economic Community. The report was prepared for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting held in London, 3–5 August 1986, following the visit of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group to South Africa.

The AAM made this appeal to trade unionists in September 1986, soon after a countrywide state of emergency was introduced in South Africa. Its emphasis was on the general campaign for sanctions rather than, as in the 1970s, campaigns against individual companies or support for South African workers.

Poster reproducing a banner celebrating the role of women in the liberation struggle. The banner was made to commemorate Liz Hollis, a young AAM staff member who died tragically in 1986.