Local authorities

David Blunkett was the Labour  MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough from 1987 to 2015. As Leader of Sheffield City Council in 1981 he launched a Declaration pledging that the Council would boycott South African goods, withhold use of sporting and recreational facilities from events involving South African participants and encourage positive teaching about Africa in Sheffield schools. In 1983 Sheffield Council hosted the inaugural meeting of Local Authority Action Against Apartheid.

In this clip David Blunkett describes the link between combating racism in Sheffield and opposing apartheid in South Africa. 

Mike Pye was a Sheffield Labour Councillor from 1984 to 2010. As lead spokesperson on anti-apartheid issues, he steered through the Council policies on boycotting South African goods and barring artists who had performed in South Africa from Sheffield City Hall. He helped set up Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) and chaired its National Steering Committee from 1984 to 1994.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom history project in 2013.

Mike Pye was a Sheffield Labour Councillor from 1984 to 2010. As lead spokesperson on anti-apartheid issues, he steered through the Council policies on boycotting South African goods and barring artists who had performed in South Africa from Sheffield City Hall. He helped set up Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) and chaired its National Steering Committee from 1984 to 1994.

In this clip Mike Pye explains how Sheffield City Council used a section of the Local Government Act that called on local authorities to foster good race relations as legal justification for not awarding a contract to Shell.

Talal Karim came to Britain from Bangladesh in 1971 and supported anti-apartheid campaigns as a student at Warwick University. He later became a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Islington and a member of its Race Equality Committee. He represented Islington Council on Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) and was one of the main movers behind the Council’s Declaration on Southern Africa, and support for the African National Congress (ANC) and South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).

In this clip Talal Karim remembers how he checked that there were no South African products on sale in the Council’s staff canteen.

Talal Karim came to Britain from Bangladesh in 1971 and supported anti-apartheid campaigns as a student at Warwick University. He later became a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Islington and a member of its Race Equality Committee. He represented Islington Council on Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) and was one of the main movers behind the Council’s Declaration on Southern Africa, and support for the African National Congress (ANC) and South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom history project in 2013.

Talal Karim came to Britain from Bangladesh in 1971 and supported anti-apartheid campaigns as a student at Warwick University. He later became a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Islington and a member of its Race Equality Committee. He represented Islington Council on Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) and was one of the main movers behind the Council’s Declaration on Southern Africa, and support for the African National Congress (ANC) and South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).

In this clip Talal Karim explains why he became an anti-apartheid activist and describes his meeting with Nelson Mandela in 1993.

Brian Filling became involved in anti-apartheid campaigning as a student at Glasgow University in the late 1960s. He was a founder of the Scottish AAM Committee in 1976 and served as its Chair from 1976 to 1994, when he became Chair of ACTSA Scotland. He was a member of the Executive Committee of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) from 1994 to 2011 and is now Honorary Consul for South Africa in Scotland. He was awarded the National Order of Companions of O R Tambo in 2012. 

In this clip Brian Filling describes how Nelson Mandela visited Glasgow in 1993 to meet representatives from the nine British cities who had given him the freedom of their cities.

Tony Dykes first became involved in Southern Africa in 1979 when he joined the staff of the World University Service, which arranged international scholarships for black South Africans. As a London Borough of Camden councillor from 1982 he supported the Council’s policy of boycotting South African products. After he became Council Leader in 1986 he worked closely with the Anti-Apartheid Movement, providing event venues and supporting its campaigns. He served as the Director of ACTSA from 2007 to 2018.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of a research project on the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and South Africa’s transition to majority rule, conducted by Dr Matt Graham (History programme, University of Dundee) and Dr Christopher Fevre (International Studies Group, University of the Free State) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1976154