1980s

The ANC’s cultural group Amandla was formed in Angola after the 1976 Soweto uprising. It was made up of 30 young South African singers, dancers and musicians. On its1985 tour of Britain it visited centres all over the country, performing and holding workshops on music, dance and drama. The tour included shows at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Shaw Theatre. It was sponsored by trade unions and local authorities.

This petition to Parliament was launched at a press conference in August 1985 at the height of the international campaign for sanctions against South Africa. 

Bristol anti-apartheid supporters took part in an anti-racist demonstration in Bristol City Centre on 31 August 1985. Although the national AAM did not formally affiliate to organisations opposing racism within Britain, many AA groups joined local protests.

Letter to Prime Minister Thatcher urging her to support the imposition of Commonwealth sanctions against South Africa at the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government held in Nassau in October 1985.

Letter from Prime Minister Thatcher to AAM President Archbishop Trevor Huddleston rejecting his appeal for the British government to impose sanctions against South Africa. She argued that change would come about through the operation of market forces.

Krugerrands were gold coins minted in South Africa to stimulate international demand for South African gold. This report was issued on the eve of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference held in Nassau in October 1985 to discuss sanctions against South Africa. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher held out against the imposition of wide-ranging sanctions and agreed only to a few measures, including a ban on the import of Krugerrands.

Benjamin Moloise was sentenced to death on a trumped up charge of murdering a South African security policeman in June 1983. He was hanged on 18 October 1985 in spite of an international campaign for his release. Commonwealth leaders and the governments of the USA, France and Germany all called for clemency. The AAM held a 24-hour vigil outside South Africa House the day before his execution.

Hundreds of students staged a sit-down protest against apartheid in front of the South African Embassy on 19 October 1985. In a national week of student solidarity more than 300 colleges all over the country took some form of anti-apartheid action. Several Barclays branches were occupied by demonstrators and the NUS renamed its north London headquarters Nelson Mandela House.