Local AA groups

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. This leaflet advertised a meeting held by Kensington & Chelsea Anti-Apartheid Group in West London to mobilise opposition. A Gallup poll showed that 71 per cent of the British public were opposed to arms sales. The only weapons sold to South Africa under the 1970–74 government were seven Wasp helicopters.

Leaflet advertising an AAM conference held in October 1975 to mark the tenth anniversary of UDI. The conference discussed the role of South Africa and Britain’s responsibility for Zimbabwe, and provided updates on the economic situation inside the country.

Hull AA Group picketed Barclays Bank in April 1977 as part of the long-running AAM campaign to force Barclays to withdraw from South Africa. Leafleting Barclays customers to persuade them to withdraw their accounts from Barclays was a regular activity for most local anti-apartheid groups during the 1970s and early 1980s. As a result of the campaign, Barclays Bank withdrew from South Africa in 1986.

Prospectus for a day conference on the role of the church in South Africa and the response of the British churches, held at Elvet Methodist Church, Durham in April 1977. The speakers were Methodist minister Rev Cedric Mayson and Baptist Rev John Lamula. Issues for discussion included ‘Violence and the Christian Response' and the role of sanctions. The conference was organised by Durham AA Group.

Anti-apartheid supporters picketed around 250 branches of Barclays Bank all over Britain on 1 March 1978. This photo shows anti-apartheid supporters outside a Barclays branch in Leeds. The pickets were part of a March month of action against apartheid held to launch the UN International Anti-Apartheid Year. Barclays Bank was the biggest high street bank in South Africa. After a 16-year campaign by the AAM, it withdrew from South Africa in 1986.

Southampton AA Group supporters delivered a giant Barclays cheque to the local Barclays branch on 4 April 1979. The cheque was made payable ‘for bribery and corruption by the South African Government’ and signed ‘Connie Muldergate’. South African Information Minister Connie Mulder was forced to resign because he established a government slush fund to promote South Africa’s image overseas.

From 1978 anti-apartheid local groups held sponsored walks on the anniversary of the Soweto uprising to raise funds for the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom School in Tanzania. This photograph shows AAM members in Barnet, north London, getting ready for their walk in May 1979.

From 1978 anti-apartheid local groups held sponsored walks on the anniversary of the Soweto uprising to raise funds for the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom School in Tanzania. In the photograph are Det Glynn of Camden AA Group and AAM staff member Chris Child getting ready for a sponsored walk in Camden, London in June 1979.