1980s

Brian Filling became involved in anti-apartheid campaigning as a student at Glasgow University in the late 1960s. He was a founder of the Scottish AAM Committee in 1976 and served as its Chair from 1976 to 1994, when he became Chair of ACTSA Scotland. He was a member of the Executive Committee of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) from 1994 to 2011 and is now Honorary Consul for South Africa in Scotland. He was awarded the National Order of Companions of O R Tambo in 2012.       

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom history project in 2013.

Support for anti-apartheid campaigns in Britain grew rapidly in the mid-1980s. The AAM launched this appeal so that it could increase its office space. The Movement depended entirely on small donations and membership subscriptions to finance its campaigns and received no support from government or grant-giving bodies.

In August 1985 South Africa announced a moratorium on the repayment of its foreign debts after the US bank Chase Manhattan refused to roll over its loans. As a result, South Africa was forced to negotiate a series of short-term rescheduling agreements with overseas banking consortia. The AAM and End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) campaigned to persuade the banks to refuse any further loans until apartheid was dismantled.

The AAM depended on membership subscriptions and small donations from supporters to finance its campaigns. It worked hard to recruit new members but its support base was always far larger than its membership.

Mike Terry was the Executive Secretary of the Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1975 until it was dissolved after the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in 1994.

In this clip Mike Terry talks about the broad appeal of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK and its success as a single issue organisation.

Mike Terry was the Executive Secretary of the Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1975 until it was dissolved after the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in 1994.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out in 2000 by Håkan Thörn.

The April issue focused on the international effort to ensure that elections scheduled for November 1989 in Namibia were free and fair. It publicised the launch of a SWAPO Election Appeal sponsored by the leaders of all the main British political parties, apart from the Conservatives. It again highlighted the ongoing hunger strike by South African political detainees and the failure of the Thatcher Government to bring pressure on the apartheid regime. A feature by the ANC’s Nkosazana Zuma asked for support for the newly established Health and Refugee Trust of South Africa (HEART). SANROC Chair Sam Ramsamy wrote about the ongoing campaign for a total sporting boycott of South Africa.

Simon Sapper grew up in London in a household that boycotted South African goods, and from an early age he was aware of the anti-apartheid struggle. On leaving university in 1984 he joined the staff of the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a campaigns organiser, with special responsibility for trade unions and political parties. He played a central role in organising the AAM demonstration calling for sanctions against South Africa in November 1985 and the Festival for Freedom in June 1986. In November 1986 he left to work for the Institution of Professional Civil Servants.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of a research project on the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and South Africa’s transition to majority rule, conducted by Dr Matt Graham (History programme, University of Dundee) and Dr Christopher Fevre (International Studies Group, University of the Free State). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1976154