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Membership leaflet produced by Manchester AA Group.

The Freedom Charter was adopted by the Congress of the People held in South Africa in 1955. In the 1980s it once again became a rallying point for anti-apartheid organisations within the country.

Students played a big part in the campaign to force Barclays Bank to withdraw from South Africa. This poster was displayed in student unions to persuade students not to bank with Barclays. By the mid-1980s Barclays share of student accounts had fallen to 17 per cent and this was a big factor in the bank’s decision to withdraw from South Africa in 1986.

This debate at the Oxford Union featuring Bantustan chief Gatsha Buthelezi, South African Cabinet minister Allan Hendrickse and South African Ambassador Denis Worrall was cancelled after protests from Oxford students. Instead, students held a torchlight march through Oxford. They heard Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa of the United Democratic Front call for the unconditional release of all South African political prisoners.

The AAM held a conference in February 1985 to mobilise support for a consumer boycott month of action in March. The conference included workshops on local authority and trade union action, as well as on campaigning in the civil service and cooperative movement. During March campaigners distributed around three-quarters of a million leaflets in shopping centres  and door to door. The following year a Harris Poll found that 27% of people in Britain said they boycotted South African products.

Three hundred delegates attended the AAM’s boycott conference on 9 February 1985 to plan a month of boycott action in March. After the relaunch of the consumer boycott of goods from South Africa and Namibia in June 1984, the AAM produced new leaflets with brand names of South African products, car stickers, badges and posters. The main speaker at the conference was Mary Manning, who had been sacked from her job in Dunnes supermarket, Dublin for refusing to handle South African products. 

From 1985 Medical Aid for Southern Africa (MACSA) collected medical equipment and funding for the African National Congress hospital in Tanzania. It also liaised with the Namibia Support Committee in providing health kits for the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO). MACSA raised funds through social events and collections in hospitals and medical schools. Many local AA groups collected material aid and cash for MACSA appeals.

The AAM held a month of action in March 1985 to relaunch the consumer boycott of South African goods. Campaigners distributed around three-quarters of a million leaflets in shopping centres  and door to door. The month culminated with a nationwide day of action on Saturday 30 March when AAM supporters picketed over 1,000 shopping centres all over Britain. The following year a Harris Poll found that 27% of people in Britain said they boycotted South African products.