Students

Hundreds of students staged a sit-down protest against apartheid in front of the South African Embassy on 19 October 1985. In a national week of student solidarity more than 300 colleges all over the country took some form of anti-apartheid action. Several Barclays branches were occupied by demonstrators and the NUS renamed its north London headquarters Nelson Mandela House.

Labour students poster advertising the AAM’s March and Festival for Freedom on 28 June 1986, the culmination of a month-long intensive campaign for sanctions. Thousands marched from central London to Clapham Common, where 250,000 people attended a star-studded concert organised by Artists Against Apartheid. Speakers at the concert included Thabo Mbeki of the ANC and Moses Garoeb of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).

Poster for a folk concert to raise funds for the ANC and Nottingham Anti-Apartheid at Nottingham’s Trent Polytechnic Students Union in 1987.

NUS leaflet calling on students to vote for candidates who supported the imposition of sanctions against South Africa in the June 1987 British general election. The AAM circulated a questionnaire to prospective parliamentary candidates from all parties asking them about their stand on anti-apartheid campaigns.

This weekend conference was part of a drive to attract more young people into the Anti-Apartheid Movement. It was attended by 200 young people and students. It included workshops in practical campaigning skills and led to the recruitment of school students and others into local anti-apartheid groups.

After  Nelson Mandela’s release in February 1990, the AAM campaigned for support for the ANC in its negotiations for a democratic constitution. This leaflet asked students and young people to support the AAM’s ‘South Africa: Freedom Now!’ campaign.

After agreement was reached on 27 April 1994 as the date for one person one vote elections in South Africa, the AAM campaigned to ensure the elections were free and fair. Its Countdown to Democracy programme focused on voter education. This leaflet asked for donations for a special Education for Democracy in South Africa Fund, supported by the main British teacher unions and the National Union of Students.

Chris Child became involved in the campaign to make Barclays Bank withdraw from South Africa when he was a student at Durham University. He was an Anti-Apartheid Movement staff member from 1976 to 1982, initially as Trade Union Secretary and later as Deputy Executive Secretary. He was responsible for the AAM’s work with trade unions, the disinvestment campaign, Namibia and liaising with local AA groups.

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