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Poster advertising a week of action on Namibia, 27 October to 3 November 1982. The week began with a march through London when ‘summonses’ were served at the offices of companies that collaborated with South Africa’s illegal rule in Namibia. It also featured a speaking tour by SWAPO representative Jacob Hannai and a special leaflet on Barclays and Namibia.

Anti-apartheid supporters outside the London offices of Blue Star Port Line during the Week of Action on Namibia organised by the AAM and the Namibia Support Committee, 27 October to 3 November 1982. The company was running a shipping service to Walvis Bay in defiance of UN rulings. Other British companies operating in Namibia were targeted during the week. A former worker at RTZ’s Rossing uranium mine, Arthur Pickering, and a representative of SWAPO’s Women’s Council, Frieda Williams, spoke at 50 meetings all over Britain.

Many of the companies named in this leaflet were picketed during a Week of Action on Namibia, 27 October–3 November 1982. A former worker at RTZ’s Rossing uranium mine, Arthur Pickering, and a representative of SWAPO’s Women’s Council, Frieda Williams, spoke at 50 meetings all over Britain. The demonstrations were organised by the AAM and the Namibia Support Committee as part of a UN International Week of Solidarity with the people of Namibia. 

Over 2,000 mayors from 56 countries signed a declaration calling for the release of Nelson Mandela in 1982. The Declaration was initiated by the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Michael Kelly, after Glasgow conferred the Freedom of the City on Mandela. This booklet lists the mayors who signed the Declaration.

Wales AAM supporters asked Shirley Bassey to speak out against apartheid when she appeared at St David’s Hall, Cardiff in November 1982. The year before, she performed in Sun City, South Africa, breaking the cultural boycott. Shirley Bassey grew up in Cardiff’s multiracial Butetown area.

In the early 1980s there was a flowering of anti-apartheid theatre groups, music and poetry within South Africa and some groups travelled overseas. This posed a problem for the AAM’s cultural boycott policy and it became untenable to boycott every group that visited Britain from South Africa. This statement reaffirmed the AAM’s policy of opposing visits by South African artists to Britain. But it stated that South African shows that opposed apartheid should not be subject to organised protests.

The AAM’s trade union conference held on 27 November 1982 was a milestone in winning support from British trade unions. TUC General Secretary Len Murray spoke on an AAM platform. The TUC declared its unequivocal support for economic sanctions against South Africa for the first time. The conference was attended by 264 delegates from 160 trade union organisations. Left to right: AAM Hon. Secretary Abdul Minty, TUC General Secretary Len Murray, General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union Jack Jones, and the AAM’s Trade Union Officer Chris Child.

The conference for trade unionists organised by the AAM on 27 November 1982 was a milestone in its attempts to win support from the British trade union movement. This report reproduces speeches made by TUC General Secretary Len Murray and Abdul Minty, Hon. Secretary of the AAM. This was the first time the TUC declared its unequivocal support for economic sanctions against South Africa. It was also the first time the TUC General Secretary spoke on an AAM platform. The conference was attended by 264 delegates from 160 trade union organisations.