Browse the AAM Archive

This poster reprinted a call to trade unions from the Programme of Action against Apartheid adopted by the UN General Assembly. It was widely distributed by the AAM Trade Union Committee.

Poster produced for the campaign to make Barclays Bank withdraw from South Africa. The campaign started in 1969 in response to Barclays’ involvement in financing the Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique. Students played a big part in the campaign, which asked individuals and organisations to withdraw their accounts. Barclays finally pulled out of South Africa in 1986. 

In 1976 Barclays invested ten million rand in South African defence bonds; it also advertised in South African Defence Force magazines. This poster shows SWAPO refugees killed in SADF raids in Angola and asks ‘Is this how you want to be treated by your first bank?’

This leaflet was circulated early in 1976 to alert the British public to South Africa’s invasion of Angola. The AAM collaborated with the newly formed Angola Solidarity Committee to distribute thousands of leaflets and held a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy on 11 February. It asked the British Foreign Secretary to support action against South Africa at the UN Security Council and to recognise the People’s Republic of Angola declared by the MPLA in 1975. South African troops withdrew on 27 March, but the invasion was the first of many attacks in the 1970s and 1980s.

The AAM joined with the newly formed Angola Solidarity Committee early in 1976 to alert the British public to South Africa’s invasion of Angola. It pressured the British government to support action against South Africa at the UN Security Council and to recognise the People’s Republic of Angola declared by the MPLA in 1975. This leaflet publicised a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy on 11 February. South African troops withdrew on 27 March, but the invasion was the first of many attacks on Angola in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early in October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola and in February 1976 the South African Defence Minister admitted there were still 5,000 troops inside the country. Anti-apartheid protesters picketed the South African Embassy on 11 February 1976 to highlight South Africa’s aggression against the new MPLA government.

This report showed how the British company GEC supplied the South African Defence Force with sophisticated technology and worked closely with South African state corporations. It estimated that 40–50% of the black workers employed by GEC’s South African subsidiaries were paid below the minimum level recommended by the British government’s Code of Conduct for British corporations operating in South Africa. Christian Concern for Southern Africa (CCSA) was set up in 1972 to research and publicise the role played by British companies in South Africa. Its reports were widely distributed by the AAM.

Through its subsidiary company African Explosives and Chemical Industries (AECI) the British chemicals giant ICI had interests in South Africa dating back to the development of the gold mines in the 19th century. This report showed how AECI worked closely with the apartheid government and operated a strict colour bar in its South African operations. Christian Concern for Southern Africa (CCSA) was set up in 1972 to research and publicise the role played by British companies in South Africa. Its reports were widely distributed by the AAM.