Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau won their independence from Portugal in 1975 after a protracted guerrilla war. This badge was produced by the Mozambique Angola and Guine Information Centre (MAGIC), set up as the Mozambique and Guine Information Centre in August 1975. MAGIC published a bi-monthly magazine about developments in the former Portuguese colonies and recruited volunteers to work in Mozambique.

In October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola in an attempt to stop the MPLA forming a government. The AAM campaigned for the British government to put pressure on South Africa to withdraw. AAM supporters picketed a meeting addressed by South African Foreign Minister Hilgard Muller at Chatham House on 18 November 1975.

Early in October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola in an attempt to stop the MPLA forming a government. The AAM campaigned for the British government to put pressure on South Africa to withdraw. AAM supporters picketed a meeting addressed by South African Foreign Minister Hilgard Muller at Chatham House on 18 November 1975.

This leaflet was circulated early in 1976 to alert the British public to South Africa’s invasion of Angola. The AAM collaborated with the newly formed Angola Solidarity Committee to distribute thousands of leaflets and held a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy on 11 February. It asked the British Foreign Secretary to support action against South Africa at the UN Security Council and to recognise the People’s Republic of Angola declared by the MPLA in 1975. South African troops withdrew on 27 March, but the invasion was the first of many attacks in the 1970s and 1980s.

The AAM joined with the newly formed Angola Solidarity Committee early in 1976 to alert the British public to South Africa’s invasion of Angola. It pressured the British government to support action against South Africa at the UN Security Council and to recognise the People’s Republic of Angola declared by the MPLA in 1975. This leaflet publicised a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy on 11 February. South African troops withdrew on 27 March, but the invasion was the first of many attacks on Angola in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early in October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola and in February 1976 the South African Defence Minister admitted there were still 5,000 troops inside the country. Anti-apartheid protesters picketed the South African Embassy on 11 February 1976 to highlight South Africa’s aggression against the new MPLA government.

Angolan women’s leaders Maria Mambo and Ruth Neto spoke at this meeting in London on 11 November 1976. The meeting was chaired by British trade unionist Terry Marsden. Polly Gaster, the former Secretary of the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guiné, appealed for material support for Angola and Mozambique to help them fight attacks by South Africa and the Rhodesian white minority regime.

Led by Jonas Savimbi, UNITA waged civil war in Angola from 1976 to 2002. With South African funding the organisation mounted a public relations operation in Britain and other Western countries. This leaflet accused Savimbi of being a South African surrogate and of helping the apartheid government block talks on Namibian independence.

A FRELIMO delegation led by future Mozambican President Armando Guebuza visited Britain in June 1981 as guests of the newly formed group Stop the War in Angola and Mozambique (SWAM). This leaflet advertised a meeting addressed by Guebuza in Manchester. On 26 June he spoke at a South Africa Freedom Day meeting in London together with ANC President Oliver Tambo. The delegation held discussions with leaders of the AAM on international solidarity with Mozambique.

FRELIMO Central Committee member and future Mozambique President Armando Guebuza at a meeting with representatives of London’s black community, 24 June 1981.

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.

South Africa repeatedly raided neighbouring states to abduct or murder political exiles. This pamphlet documented incursions going back to the early 1960s. It showed how the South African security forces had violated the borders of seven independent states. The pamphlet called on the international community to take action against South Africa for violating international law. 

South Africa was still occupying large areas of southern Angola a year after its invasion in August 1981. On the anniversary of the invasion demonstrators picketed the British Foreign Office and the US, French, West German and Canadian embassies in protest against Western governments’ refusal to act against the apartheld government. 

In December 1982 South Africa forces crossed the border into Lesotho and massacred 42 South African refugees and Lesotho nationals. This was part of a pattern of South African armed raids and destabilisation of the frontline states throughout the 1980s. The photograph shows anti-apartheid supporters holding a torchlight vigil at South Africa House immediately after the raid.

Starting in 1975, South African forces repeatedly invaded Angola, destroying crops and infrastructure. One of their main aims was to depopulate southern Angola and stop guerrilla fighters from the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) crossing into northern Namibia. This pamphlet called on Western countries to pressure South Africa to reach agreement on the independence of Namibia.

Leaflet publicising a briefing meeting for an international campaign on the theme ‘Stop the Apartheid War’ planned for the autumn of 1983. The campaign followed an international conference on solidarity with Mozambique and Angola held in Lisbon on 25–27 March. The campaign was organised by the AAM, Namibia Support Committee and the newly formed Mozambique Angola Committee (MAC).

Report detailing South Africa’s military build-up in the early 1980s and its attacks on the front-line states. The Committee on South African War Resistance (COSAWR) was set up by young white South Africans who refused to be conscripted into the apartheid government’s armed forces. Increasing numbers of them were forced into exile from the late 1970s. They played an important part in anti-apartheid campaigns, especially in Britain, and COSAWR worked closely with the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

From the early 1980s South Africa destabilised Mozambique by supporting the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR). The MNR killed villagers and attacked economic targets like the Beira-Zimbabwe railway line. South African commandos also mounted raids into Mozambique, killing ANC activists and Mozambican civilians. This pamphlet gives a detailed account of South Africa’s undeclared war. Shortly after it was published Mozambique and South Africa signed the Nkomati Accord, but the apartheid government reneged on its pledge to stop arming the MNR. 

From the early 1980s young white South Africans who refused to do compulsory military service came to Britain and played an important part in anti-apartheid campaigns. In 1984 the apartheid government extended military conscription for whites. In this picture supporters of COSAWR are protesting against South Africa’s new military offensive against Angola in the winter of 1983/84.

Leaflet publicising a public meeting held during the AAM’s month of action in solidarity with the frontline states in March 1988. The AAM stepped up campaigning against South Africa’s aggression against neighbouring states in response to escalating attacks on Angola in the autumn of 1987. South Africa’s failure to capture the town of Cuito Cuanavale in Southern Angola in March 1988 was one of the turning points of the Southern African liberation struggle. 

This leaflet was distributed during the AAM’s month of action in solidarity with the frontline states in March 1988. During the month local AA groups held meetings and demonstrations to draw attention to South Africa’s attacks on neighbouring states. A highlight of the month was a visit to Britain by Graça Machel, who spoke at a packed meeting in Oxford and at the Scottish Labour Party’s annual conference in Perth.

One of the main events of the AAM month of action in solidarity with the frontline states in March 1988 was a fundraising concert on 19 March. The Africa Fund collected aid for refugees displaced by South Africa’s attacks on neighbouring states. On 21 March the AAM’s London Committee organised a picket of the South African Embassy to draw attention to South African aggression. 

In 1988 Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) organised a conference to discuss positive ways in which British organisations could support the development of the frontline states in Southern Africa. The key speaker at the conference was Jorge Rebelo from FRELIMO.

In May 1988 Local Authorities Against Apartheid organised a conference for local councils on ‘Building Links with the Frontline States’. The conference discussed how to twin local authorities in Britain with their counterparts in the countries of Southern Africa. This pamphlet published the keynote addresses made by Zambian Deputy Foreign Minister Mavis Muyunda and FRELIMO leader Jorge Rebelo.

Jonas Savimbi, leader of the South African-backed Unita organisation in Angola, was met with widespread protests when he visited London in July 1988. An advertisement was placed in the Independent newspaper and demonstrators picketed the Royal Institute of International Affairs, which hosted a meeting for Savimbi. The British Foreign Office gave assurances that Savimbi would not be officially received.

This Festival brought together speakers from the Namibia Support Committee and Wales AAM with the Cuban ambassador, who spoke about his country’s support for Angola against South African aggression. The conference was followed by an evening concert with music from the Cardiff Red Choir and singer songwriter Maria Tolly.

This conference brought together over 100 activists, experts and representatives of the frontline states to discuss the new situation in Southern Africa after Namibian independence in 1990. It highlighted the need to publicise the economic dislocation caused by South African aggression against its neighbours. It looked forward to the building of new post-apartheid links between groups in Britain and the frontline states.

This memorandum to the Foreign Office and Overseas Development Administration described the impact of apartheid on the countries of the Southern African region. It argued that Britain had a special responsibility to help them overcome the legacy of aggression and destabilisation.

The Angola Emergency Campaign was set up by the AAM and the Mozambique Angola Committee to publicise the devastation caused by renewed civil war in Angola in 1992. It called for international sanctions against UNITA and material support for the government of Angola.

In October 1992 the civil war in Angola resumed when UNITA President Jonas Savimbi refused to accept the result of the UN-brokered elections, won by MPLA. The Angolan Emergency Campaign was set up by the AAM and the Mozambique Angola Committee to inform people in Britain of the situation in Angola.

Leaflet publicising a meeting on the first anniversary of elections in Angola in September 1992. UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, refused to accept the result of the elections, won by the MPLA. Angola was plunged into renewed civil war, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes. The Angola Emergency Campaign was set up by the AAM and the Mozambique Angola Committee to draw public attention to the Angolan war.

In October 1994 Mozambique held its first multi-party elections after 18 years of civil war. Under the slogan ‘Mozambique Now!’ the AAM and the Mozambique Angola Committee lobbied the British government to help ensure that the opposition group RENAMO observed the Mozambique peace agreement reached in October 1992. They worked to ensure that British organisations were better informed about the situation in Mozambique and pressed for more international election observers. 

This was AA Enterprises’ best-selling T-shirt. The same design was used on a tea towel, wrapping paper and mug. 

Mug with the legend ‘Isolate Apartheid Support the Frontline States’.

Mug promoting AA Enterprises Café Vitoria coffee, imported from Angola and Zimbabwe as part of a campaign to increase trade with the frontline states.

Peter Brayshaw took part in protests against UDI in Rhodesia as a student in the mid-1960s. He joined the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea and travelled to Angola soon after MPLA declared independence in 1975. On his return to Britain he campaigned for international recognition of the MPLA government and later became Chair of the Mozambique Angola Committee. He later served as Vice Chair of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and as a Labour Councillor in the London Borough of Camden. 

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

Peter Brayshaw joined protests against UDI in Rhodesia as a student in the mid-1960s. He joined the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea and travelled to Angola soon after MPLA declared independence in 1975. On his return to Britain he campaigned for international recognition of the MPLA government and later became Chair of the Mozambique Angola Committee. He later served as Vice Chair of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and as a Labour Councillor in the London Borough of Camden. 

In this clip Peter Brayshaw tells how he and his companion Tracy Warne were caught in fighting between MPLA and FNLA when they visited Angola soon after MPLA declared independence in 1975.