Photos

ELTSA (End Loans to Southern Africa) and the AAM insisted that there should be no new loans to South Africa until there was firm agreement on a democratic constitution. In 1992 the parastatal electricity company ESCOM tried to float a new bond issue on international money markets. It was forced to withdraw in the face of reluctance to lend and protests like this one organised by ELTSA.

Exeter AA Group held a vigil in the main shopping centre on 20 March 1993 to ask the British government to help end the violence in South Africa. It said Britain should support the sending of international peace monitors. It forwarded 500 letters to Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd from local people urging him to take action

Around 50 British local councils were represented at the sixth biennial conference of Local Authorities Against Apartheid in Manchester 25–26 March 1993. Moses Mayekiso, President of SANCO (South African National Civic Organisation) briefed the conference on plans for a new democratic local government system in South Africa. Councils pledged practical support in training observers for the April 1994 election. They pledged post-apartheid solidarity with all the countries of the Southern African region.

After Chris Hani’s murder on 10 April 1993, the AAM held a vigil outside South Africa House. At a march and rally on 19 April supporters pledged to support the ANC in its efforts to stop the killing from derailing the negotiations for a new constitution in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela visited the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence on his visit to London in May 1993. Stephen was stabbed to death by a white racist gang when he was waiting at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April.

A conference organised by the AAM in London in June 1993 discussed post-apartheid solidarity and mapped out a new agenda of support for the people of Southern Africa. The conference was convened by AAM President Trevor Huddleston and the former President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, with the support of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid. The main speakers were Walter Sisulu and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Left to right: Graca Machel, Desmond Tutu, Abdul Minty, Trevor Huddleston, Julius Nyerere and Walter Sisulu.

Archbishops Desmond Tutu and Trevor Huddleston at the ‘Making Hope a Reality’ conference held in London, 14–15 June 1993. The conference discussed post-apartheid solidarity and mapped out a new agenda of support for the people of Southern Africa. It was convened by Trevor Huddleston and the former President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, and organised by the AAM in co-operation with the UN Special Committee against Apartheid. The main speakers were Walter Sisulu and Desmond Tutu.

A big crowd in Trafalgar Square heard Walter Sisulu demand immediate agreement on an election date on 20 June 1993. The rally was the climax of the AAM’s campaign to win support in Britain for one person one vote elections and a unitary constitution for South Africa. Also on the platform were Bill Morris, General Secretary of the British transport workers union, Lorna Fitzsimmons, President of the National Union of Students and MPs Michael Meacher and Simon Hughes. In a dramatic breakthrough two weeks later, on 2 July, it was agreed that an election would be held on 27 April 1994.