1980s

Nelson Mandela was given the Freedom of the City of Glasgow on 4 August 1981. Glasgow was the first of many British cities to honour Mandela in this way. The photograph shows ANC representative Ruth Mompati at a meeting in Glasgow City Chambers held after the award ceremony. Also in the photo are Nigerian Vice-President Alex Ekwueme,  the Lord Provost of Glasgow Michael Kelly and Scottish AA Committee Chair, Brian Filling.

Three young men, Johannes Shabangu, Anthony Tsotsobe and David Moise, were sentenced to death in Pretoria on 19 August 1981. They were charged with taking part in attack on the SASOL oil-from-coal power station and a Johannesburg police station. All three were school students who left South Africa to join Umkhonto we Sizwe after the Soweto uprising in 1976. After an international campaign the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on 7 June 1983.

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.

Every year the AAM held a meeting at the Labour Party conference with speakers from the Southern African liberation movements and the parliamentary Labour Party. The 1981 meeting focused on economic sanctions and South Africa’s aggression against Angola. The Labour Party declared itself in favour of UN mandatory economic sanctions against South Africa at its 1979 national conference. 

Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) marked the UN Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners on 11 October 1981 with a vigil on the steps of St Martin’s in the Fields. The vigil protested at the repression of the South African trade union movement and called for the release of veteran trade unionist Oscar Mpetha.

This leaflet advertised a series of lectures putting the case for sanctions against South Africa organised by the AAM and the Africa Centre. The lectures followed a conference on sanctions organised by the UN and the Organisation of African Unity that declared 1982 the International Year of Mobilisation for Sanctions Against South Africa.

The 1981 Labour Party conference passed a comprehensive resolution on sanctions against South Africa. This leaflet publicised a joint AAM/Labour Party conference that followed up the resolution by suggesting ways that local Labour Party members could take action. It also discussed practical initiatives for a future Labour government. The conference was attended by 100 delegates from constituency Labour parties and trade unions.