Stop the hangings

Robert McBride was a young ANC member sentenced to hang for setting off a bomb in Durban in July 1986. In March 1988 a South African court turned down his appeal against the death sentence. After a campaign for clemency led by his mother, Doris McBride, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in April 1991.

Robert McBride was sentenced to hang for setting off a bomb in Durban in July 1986. This leaflet advertises a meeting calling for clemency. After an international campaign led by his mother, Doris McBride, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

This petition was launched in April 1989 to pressure the British government to intervene to stop all death sentences in political trials in South Africa. The AAM also sent a delegation to Foreign Office Minister Lynda Chalker. The number of death sentences imposed on political prisoners increased sharply from the mid-1980s. The petition was signed by 34,000 people and presented to the British parliament on 10 November 1989. 

Over 300 people attended this meeting to hear Tina Forbes, whose son Ashley was serving a 15-year sentence on Robben Island, and Silus Mkanunu from the South African Association of Democratic Lawyers. The meeting launched SATIS’s ‘No Apartheid Executions’ petition.

The Upington 14 were sentenced to death on 26 May 1989 because they were present at a demonstration during which a black policeman was killed. They included a 60-year old woman, Evenlyn de Bruin. After an international campaign for their release, the sentence was overturned in May 1991. This leaflet set out the background to the case.

Poster for the campaign to save the lives of the Upington 14. The 13 men and one woman were sentenced to death on 26 May 1989 because they were present during a demonstration during which a black policeman was killed. They included 60-year old Evelyn de Bruin. After an international campaign for their release, the sentence was overturned in May 1991.

The Upington 14 were sentenced to death on 26 May 1989 because they were present at a demonstration during which a black policeman was killed. They included a 60-year old woman, Evelyn de Bruin. After an international campaign for their release, the sentence was overturned in May 1991.

The Upington 14 were sentenced to death on 26 May 1989 because they were present at a demonstration during which a black policeman was killed. They included a 60-year old woman, Evelyn de Bruin. Anti-apartheid supporters picketed the South African Embassy in London calling for clemency for the Upington 14. After an international campaign for their release, the sentence was overturned in May 1991.