Photos

Eighteen people prominent in British public life staged a symbolic protest against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in February 1988. AAM President Trevor Huddleston and TUC General Secretary Norman Willis met British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to ask him to protest to the South African government. The bannings effectively outlawed all non-violent opposition to apartheid within South Africa.

AAM protestors led by Archbishop Trevor Huddleston and Labour MPs Joan Lestor and Bob Hughes protested against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations at the entrance to Downing Street on 21 March 1988. The AAM asked supporters to mark the day by wearing ‘Ban Apartheid Sanctions Now’ stickers.

The AAM mobilised public opinion in Britain against the banning of the UDF and 16 other anti-apartheid organisations in South Africa on 24 February 1988. In the photograph Thabo Mbeki protests at a demonstration outside the South African Embassy. Immediately after the bannings AAM President Trevor Huddleston and TUC General Secretary Norman Willis met British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe to ask him to make representations to the South African government. The bannings effectively outlawed all non-violent opposition to apartheid within South Africa.

Young AAM supporters at a vigil for the Sharpeville Six in front of Nottingham Town Hall on 13 April 1998.

AAM activists, miners from Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and Women against Pit Closures protested against a visit by a delegation from the South African coal industry on 21 April 1988. The delegation had come to London to lobby against coal sanctions against South Africa.

Supporters of Greater London Pensioners call for the release of the Sharpeville Six outside South Africa House in June 1988. The Six were condemned to hang because they were present at a protest where black collaborators were killed. After a big international campaign their sentence was commuted in July 1988.

The Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert held at Wembley Stadium, London on 11 June 1988, was attended by a capacity audience of 92,000 and broadcast by the BBC to 63 countries. It was organised by the AAM with the support of Artists Against Apartheid. The concert was part of the AAM’s Nelson Mandela: Freedom at 70 campaign. Mandela became a household name and a public opinion poll found that 70% of people in Britain supported the call for his release.

The Nelson Mandela 70th birthday tribute concert held at Wembley Stadium, London on 11 June 1988, was attended by a capacity audience of 92,000 and broadcast by the BBC to 63 countries. It was organised by the AAM with the support of Artists Against Apartheid. The concert was part of the AAM’s Nelson Mandela: Freedom at 70 campaign. Mandela became a household name and a public opinion poll found that 70% of people in Britain supported the call for his release.