1980s

UDF President Albertina Sisulu was the main speaker at an AAM rally in London on 20 June 1989 protesting against F W de Klerk’s visit to London. She said de Klerk was trying ‘to improve apartheid and not to abolish it’. She was on her way the USA to meet President Bush. On her way back from the USA she led a UDF delegation which met British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Albertina Sisulu, President of the banned United Democratic Front, and Sister Bernard Ncube of the Federation of Transvaal Women held a press conference in the House of Commons  on 13 July 1989. They were on their way back to South Africa from the USA, where they met President George Bush. During their stay in London the UDF delegation met Margaret Thatcher, the first time a British Prime Minister had met black South African anti-apartheid leaders since Josiah Gumede and Sol Plaatje held a meeting with Lloyd George in 1919.

The AAM celebrated the 30th anniversary of its founding as the Boycott Movement in 1959 with a fundraising concert at the Camden Centre in central London.

The World Gold Commission was launched in 1988 on the initiative of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA), the African National Congress (ANC) and South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO). It exposed the central role gold mining played in the apartheid economy and campaigned for a worldwide ban on South African gold. This report set out a three-part strategy: gold sanctions against South Africa; the release equivalent quantities of gold from other countries’ reserves; and a training programme for South African exile students to learn gold mining and marketing skills. 

In June 1989 the AAM held its first ‘Freedom Run’ in Brockwell Park, Brixton, south London in June 1989. The Freedom Run became an annual event where stalls sold anti-apartheid badges, T-shirts and other goods, and sponsored runners raised funds for the AAM.

This Wales AAM supporter was asking passers-by not to buy products from South Africa. He was taking part in a demonstration outside the Holiday Inn in Cardiff. The Holiday Inn group had a chain of hotels in South Africa. The AAM’s countrywide Boycott Apartheid 89 campaign focused on tourism and imports of coal and gold, as well as wine and fruit.

The Southern Africa Coalition was launched on 1 September 1989 to press the British government to impose targeted sanctions against South Africa. These included a ban on imports of coal and agricultural products and on loans to South Africa. The Coalition brought together a wide range of organisations, including trade unions, churches, overseas aid agencies and the Anti-Apartheid Movement

The Southern Africa Coalition was launched on 1 September 1989 to press the British government to impose targeted sanctions against South Africa. These included a ban on imports of coal and agricultural products and on loans to South Africa. The Coalition brought together a wide range of organisations, including trade unions, churches, overseas aid agencies and the Anti-Apartheid Movement.