Free Mandela

ANC President Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela’s daughter Zenani Mandela unveiled a bust of Nelson Mandela on London’s south bank on 28 October 1985. The bust was created by sculptor Ian Walters and sponsored by the Greater London Council.

Petition circulated by Dundee AA Group as part of its campaign to persuade Dundee City Council to confer the freedom of the city on Nelson Mandela. The City Council gave Mandela the freedom of the city on 31 October 1985.

Leaflet advertising a 23-hour demonstration asking Dundee City Council to confer the freedom of the city on Nelson Mandela. The leaflet also publicised a meeting at Dundee Trades Council Club and a rally in Edinburgh calling for Mandela's release. Dundee Council gave Mandela the freedom of the city on 31 October 1985.

City of London Anti-Apartheid Group was formed in 1982. Its first activity was a non-stop 24-hour picket to demand the transfer of political prisoner David Kitson from Pretoria Central Prison. This 24-hour vigil to demand the release of Nelson Mandela held in June 1985 was a precursor of the four-year non-stop picket of the South African Embassy organised by the group from 1986 to 1990. The picket attracted hundreds of enthusiastic young activists.

Wooden badge calling for the release of Nelson Mandela.

An international petition calling for the release of Nelson Mandela was launched by the AAM in October 1982. Signatures for the petition were collected in countries throughout the world. Over half a million people signed and other organisations launched their own petitions. The AAM’s President Trevor Huddleston flew to New York to present the petition to UN Secretary General on 11 October 1984, International Day of Solidarity with South African Political Prisoners.

Hackney Council press release announcing the renaming of an east London housing block as Mandela House in 1984. Many British local authorities named roads, public gardens and housing estates in honour of Nelson Mandela in the 1980s as part of the campaign for his release.

Nelson and Winnie Mandela were awarded the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen in 1984, with the support of Labour and Liberal members of the city council. This press release tells how Aberdeen AA Group won support for the award from local residents in the face of opposition from Conservative councillors and the Aberdeen Evening Express.