Faith organisations

Four thousand people from nearly every parliamentary constituency in Britain lobbied Parliament on 27 February 1990 calling for a ‘fundamental change in British policy’ towards South Africa. The lobby was organised by the Southern Africa Coalition and was the biggest ever parliamentary lobby on Southern Africa.

Leaders of the mass movement against apartheid within South Africa were the main speakers at a meeting held at the parliamentary lobby organised by the Southern Africa Coalition on 27 February 1990. The lobbyists asked their MPs to support the maintenance of sanctions against South Africa. The day before Nelson Mandela’s release, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced that Britain would end its limited restrictions on new investment and tourism.

Pauline Webb was a Methodist minister who began her career in the church’s Overseas Division and worked for the Methodist Missionary Society. In 1968 she attended the seminal Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala, Sweden, which led to the setting up of the Programme to Combat Racism. She served as Vice-Moderator of the WCC and later became Head of Religious Programmes at the BBC World Service. She was a strong supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and spoke at numerous meetings and conferences, including the AAM’s first women’s conference in 1976.  

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

Pauline Webb was a Methodist minister who began her career in the church’s Overseas Division and worked for the Methodist Missionary Society. In 1968 she attended the seminal Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Uppsala, Sweden, which led to the setting up of the Programme to Combat Racism. She served as Vice-Moderator of the WCC and later became Head of Religious Programmes at the BBC World Service. She was a strong supporter of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and spoke at numerous meetings and conferences, including the AAM’s first women’s conference in 1976. 

In this clip Pauline Webb describes the controversy provoked within the churches by the WCC’s decision to set up the Programme to Combat Racism.

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. 

In this clip Brian Filling talks about the historical ties between Scotland and South Africa and the arguments within the Church of Scotland over sanctions against apartheid. 

David Haslam is a Methodist minister who attended the seminal Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches held in Sweden in 1968. He was one of the founders of End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) in 1974 and later helped set up the EMBARGO campaign against oil shipments to South Africa. In the early 1970s he served on the National Executive Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

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

David Haslam is a Methodist minister who attended the seminal Fourth Assembly of the World Council of Churches held in Sweden in 1968. He was one of the founders of End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) in 1974 and later helped set up the EMBARGO campaign against oil shipments to South Africa. In the early 1970s he served on the National Executive Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

In this clip David Haslam describes some of the campaign actions he and his parishioners carried out.

Brian Brown is a Methodist Minister who worked for the Christian Institute of Southern Africa, in his birthplace South Africa, and came to Britain after the Christian Institute and he were banned in October 1977. From 1980 he was the Africa Secretary of the British Council of Churches, where he helped to organise a conference on ‘Britain and Southern Africa: The Way Forward’, which led to the setting up of the Southern Africa Coalition in 1989. He served the coalition until democratic South Africa emerged in 1994.

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