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The ANC contingent on the march through central London on 18 June 1977 held to mark the first anniversary of the Soweto uprising. The march was organised by the National Union of Students and National Union of School Students, with support from the AAM. Two days before, Nkosazana Dlamini and Canon Collins spoke at a commemoration service in the crypt of St Martin’s in the Fields. In Scotland AAM supporters held a vigil outside South Africa’s Glasgow consulate. 

ANC Acting President Oliver Tambo (left) at a reception held by the AAM on 13 June 1977 during the Commonwealth Conference held in London. The conference issued a comprehensive communiqué on Southern Africa that affirmed total support for the liberation movements in Zimbabwe and Namibia and condemned South African aggression against the frontline states.

Rock climbers Edwin Drummond and Colon Rowe climbed Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London in October 1977 and unfurled a banner calling for an end to investment in South Africa.

In 1977 Hull students renewed their campaign for the university to sell its shares in companies with South African interests. This pamphlet set out the case for disinvestment.

In September 1971 the National Union of Students, AAM and Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guiné set up a student network to coordinate student campaigning on Southern Africa. Every year through the 1970s and early 1980s the network held an annual conference to discuss campaign priorities. This is the programme for the sixth conference, held at Loughborough University in July 1977.

In September 1971 the National Union of Students, AAM and Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guiné set up a student network to coordinate student campaigning on Southern Africa. Every year through the 1970s and early 1980s the network held an annual conference to discuss campaign priorities. This is the report of the conference held at Loughborough University in July 1977. It was attended by 98 delegates from 45 student unions. The conference asked British students to step up action in response to the repression following the Soweto student uprising of 1976 and for pressure on the Labour government to act against the racist regimes in Southern Africa.

The AAM asked British trade unionists to support African employees of British-owned companies in their demands for union recognition. It the mid-1970s it focused on two firms: Smith and Nephew, which reneged on its recognition agreement with the National Union of Textile Workers (NUTW), and British Leyland, which refused to recognise the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU). This leaflet was distributed at the 1977 TUC. After international pressure Smith and Nephew recognised NUTW in April 1978.

Anti-apartheid protesters picketed the South African Embassy on 11 October 1977, UN Day for Southern African political prisoners. They collected signatures for an international petition calling for the release of the Pretoria 12, 11 men and one woman charged under the Terrorism Act with recruiting people to undergo military training. The 12 included ANC veterans and students who had joined Umkhonto we Sizwe after the 1976 Soweto uprising. Eventually six were sentenced to long jail sentences and six were acquitted.