Vigil outside the US Embassy in London on 10 September 1981 to protest against US and UK funding of the South African military in its war against SWAPO guerrillas fighting for independence for Namibia. In the summer of 1981 the South African army crossed Namibia’s northern border to invade Angola.
Letter to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher calling on the British government to support UN mandatory economic sanctions against South Africa in response to South Africa’s invasion of Angola in 1981.
Every year the AAM held a meeting at the Labour Party conference with speakers from the Southern African liberation movements and the parliamentary Labour Party. The 1981 meeting focused on economic sanctions and South Africa’s aggression against Angola. The Labour Party declared itself in favour of UN mandatory economic sanctions against South Africa at its 1979 national conference.
Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) marked the UN Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners on 11 October 1981 with a vigil on the steps of St Martin’s in the Fields. The vigil protested at the repression of the South African trade union movement and called for the release of veteran trade unionist Oscar Mpetha.
This leaflet advertised a series of lectures putting the case for sanctions against South Africa organised by the AAM and the Africa Centre. The lectures followed a conference on sanctions organised by the UN and the Organisation of African Unity that declared 1982 the International Year of Mobilisation for Sanctions Against South Africa.
The 1981 Labour Party conference passed a comprehensive resolution on sanctions against South Africa. This leaflet publicised a joint AAM/Labour Party conference that followed up the resolution by suggesting ways that local Labour Party members could take action. It also discussed practical initiatives for a future Labour government. The conference was attended by 100 delegates from constituency Labour parties and trade unions.
In January 1982 Steven Kitson was detained by the South African security police when he travelled to South Africa to visit his father David Kitson in prison in Pretoria. David Kitson was serving a 20-year sentence for sabotage. Steven’s mother Norma Kitson and sister Amandla protested outside the South African Embassy in London demanding his release. Steven was threatened by the security police and eventually freed.
Students from King’s College, London blocked the entrance to the government-owned South African Airways at Oxford Circus on 10 February 1982 in protest against the death in detention of South African trade unionist Neil Aggett.
