Photos

Journalist Paul Foot speaking at the AAM’s rally on 25 October 1970 to protest against the Conservative’s government’s plans to sell arms to South Africa. The rally was attended by around 10,000 people, who marched up Whitehall, led by a model of a Buccaneer bomber. The other speakers included Mike Terry, Secretary of the National Union of Students, Canon John Collins, Dick Seabrook, President of the shopworkers union USDAW, Labour MP Reg Prentice, David Sheppard, Bishop of Woolwich, and the ANC’s representative in Western Europe Reg September. Demonstrators also protested outside the office of aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley. 

ANC representative Reg September at the AAM’s rally on 25 October 1970 to protest against the Conservative’s government’s plans to sell arms to South Africa. The rally was attended by around 10,000 people, who marched up Whitehall, led by a model of a Buccaneer bomber. Other speakers included NUS Secretary Mike Terry, Canon John Collins, Dick Seabrook, President of the shopworkers union USDAW, Labour MP Reg Prentice, David Sheppard, Bishop of Woolwich, and journalist Paul Foot. Demonstrators also protested outside the HQ of aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley. 

The banner on the plinth in Trafalgar Square at the AAM’s rally on 25 October 1970 protesting against the Conservative’s government’s plans to sell arms to South Africa. Around 10,000 people marched up Whitehall, led by a model of a Buccaneer bomber. Speakers included Mike Terry, Secretary of the National Union of Students, Canon John Collins, Dick Seabrook, President of the shopworkers union USDAW, Labour MP Reg Prentice, David Sheppard, Bishop of Woolwich, the ANC’s representative in Western Europe Reg September and journalist Paul Foot. Demonstrators also protested outside the office of aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley. 

Around 10,000 people attended a rally in Trafalgar Square on 25 October 1970 to protest against the Conservative government’s plans to sell arms to South Africa. They marched up Whitehall, led by a model of a Buccaneer bomber. Speakers at the rally included Mike Terry, Secretary of the National Union of Students, Canon John Collins, Dick Seabrook, President of the shopworkers union USDAW, Labour MP Reg Prentice, David Sheppard, Bishop of Woolwich, the ANC’s representative in Western Europe Reg September and journalist Paul Foot. Demonstrators also protested outside the office of aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley, where several were arrested.

On 25 August 1970 anti-apartheid activists infiltrated the South African Embassy in London and sat in its entrance hall until they were ejected by embassy officials. They were protesting at the trial in Pretoria of 20 South Africans on charges of belonging to the ANC. The 20 included Winnie Mandela and Benjamin Ramotse, who was later sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

South African Foreign Minister Hilgard Muller was met by AAM demonstrators when he visited the British Foreign Office on 20 July 1970. The visit took place shortly after the announcement by the newly elected Conservative government that Britain would resume arms sales to South Africa.

Anti-apartheid protesters at the Surrey Grass Court Tennis Championships in Surbiton, Surrey on 11 June 1970. They were protesting against the participation of a South African player in the tournament.

In the early 1970s the Ruskin College Kitson Committee organised an annual march from Oxford to London over the Whitsun holiday. The group campaigned for the release of political prisoner and former trade unionist David Kitson, serving a 20-year sentence in South Africa. The 1970 march ended in a rally in Trafalgar Square at which trade union leaders asked workers to refuse to work on arms for South Africa. The photo shows the marchers setting off from High Street, Oxford.