Leaflet publicising a rally in Trafalgar Square on 3 June 1962.

Leaflet publicising a rally against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. The main speaker was the Labour Party’s new leader Harold Wilson. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. When Labour came to power in October 1964 it announced a limited embargo, but fulfilled a contract for 18 Buccaneer bomber aircraft and continued to sell spare parts to the South African Defence Force.

Thousands of people marched through central London to protest against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. The main speaker at a rally in Trafalgar Square was the Labour Party’s new leader Harold Wilson. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. When Labour came to power in October 1964 it announced a limited embargo, but fulfilled a contract for 18 Buccaneer bomber aircraft and continued to sell spare parts to the South African Defence Force.

Part of the crowd at a rally in Trafalgar Square against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. The main speaker was the Labour Party’s new leader Harold Wilson. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. Also on the platform were African National Congress General Secretary Duma Nokwe and Labour MP Barbara Castle, President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Part of the crowd at a rally in Trafalgar Square against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. The main speaker was the Labour Party’s new leader Harold Wilson. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. Also on the platform were African National Congress General Secretary Duma Nokwe and Labour MP Barbara Castle, President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. 

Labour Party leader Harold Wilson at a rally in Trafalgar Square against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. When Labour came to power in October 1964 it announced a limited embargo, but fulfilled a contract for 18 Buccaneer bomber aircraft and continued to sell spare parts to the South African Defence Force.

ANC Secretary-General Duma Nokwe speaking at a rally in Trafalgar Square against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. The main speaker was the Labour Party’s new leader Harold Wilson. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. Also on the platform was Labour MP Barbara Castle, President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Labour MP Barbara Castle at a rally in Trafalgar Square against British arms sales to South Africa on 17 March 1963. The main speaker was the Labour Party’s new leader Harold Wilson. He told the Conservative government ‘Act now and stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’. When Labour came to power in October 1964 it announced a limited embargo, but fulfilled a contract for 18 Buccaneer bomber aircraft and continued to sell spare parts to the South African Defence Force.

The AAM launched an ‘Anti-Apartheid Month’ in November 1963 in response to increasing repression in South Africa and the arrest of Nelson Mandela and his comrades in July. This poster, calling for an end to arms sales to South Africa, was part of the publicity for the month. The AAM asked for an end to arms sales to South Africa, asylum for political refugees and the release of political prisoners. The campaign was launched with a march through London on 3 November. Meetings were held all over Britain during the month, most of them organised by university anti-racialist societies and addressed by recently arrived South African refugees like Joe Slovo.

In the early 1960s Britain was South Africa’s main arms supplier. The call for it to stop supplying arms for apartheid was one of the AAM’s main campaigning issues.

The Labour government elected in October 1964 continued to supply spare parts for South African military equipment and to train SADF personnel. It also supplied 18 Buccaneer aircraft under a contract signed by the Conservative government. The AAM campaigned against this as a betrayal of Labour Leader Harold Wilson’s pledge to ‘stop this bloody traffic in the weapons of oppression’.

This young anti-apartheid supporter was asking cricket fans to support an arms embargo against South Africa outside St Helen’s ground in Swansea on 31 July 1965. He was one of around 30 protesters who handed out leaflets to spectators and balloons with anti-apartheid slogans. Inside the ground, the all-white South African cricket team was playing Glamorgan County Cricket Club. South Wales AAM protested against the attendance at the match of Swansea's Mayor, Alderman F C Jones.

A delegation of MPs on their way to 10 Downing Street to hand in a letter protesting at a visit by three British warships to Cape Town in June 1967. A motion ‘regretting the visit’ was tabled in the House of Commons and a lobby of Parliament took place on 31 May. Left to right: Liberal MP and President of the AAM David Steel, Liberal MP John Pardoe, Labour MPs Joan Lestor, Joyce Butler and Hugh Jenkins, Lord Brockway, and Labour MPs Frank Judd, Michael Barnes and Andrew Faulds.

In November 1967 reports in the British press suggested that the Labour government was about to lift its arms embargo against South Africa. The AAM wrote to Foreign Secretary George Brown, who agreed to meet an AAM delegation, but failed to give assurances that the arms ban would be maintained. After protests from Labour MPs and three crisis Cabinet meetings, Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced that the arms embargo would stay. 

This pamphlet detailed South Africa’s arms build-up in the 1960s and argued that Western military support for apartheid could lead to a global racial conflagration. It was widely distributed and ran into several editions.

This leaflet was issued in the run-up to the 1970 British general election. It accused the Labour government and the Conservative opposition of being equally culpable of giving military support to South Africa.

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. Wasp helicopters, manufactured by Westland Helicopters in Hayes, near London, were on the South African shopping list. This leaflet asked all British people who were opposed to apartheid to join the campaign against arms sales. 

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. The AAM immediately appealed to people in Britain to oppose the decision. This leaflet publicised a 24-hour protest fast in Downing Street by former South African political prisoners. In 1971 a Gallup poll found that 71 per cent of people surveyed were opposed to arms sales.

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.

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. The AAM launched an international campaign in defence of the arms embargo. Thousands of this postcard addressed to Prime Minister Edward Health were distributed to AAM members, and to trade unions and other organisations.

Every year the AAM held a fringe meeting at TUC congress. The 1970 congress took place soon after the newly elected Conservative government announced it would resume arms sales to South Africa. The AAM worked with sympathetic unions to ensure that congress passed a resolution deploring the decision.

This declaration was circulated at the 1970 TUC congress. It was signed by union leaders and rank and file delegates. Partly as a result of AAM pressure, congress passed a resolution deploring the government’s decision to resume arms sales to South Africa.

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. Campaigning against arms sales became the AAM’s top priority. This leaflet advertised an AAM demonstration on 25 October. 10,000 people marched up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, led by a model of a Buccaneer bomber. Demonstrators also protested outside the office of aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley, where several were arrested.

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. This Declaration was launched in November 1970 and in the next seven weeks it was signed by over 100,000 people. It was presented to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference in Singapore by the AAM’s Hon. Secretary Abdul Minty in January 1971.

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. This leaflet advertised a meeting held by Kensington & Chelsea Anti-Apartheid Group in West London to mobilise opposition. A Gallup poll showed that 71 per cent of the British public were opposed to arms sales. The only weapons sold to South Africa under the 1970–74 government were seven Wasp helicopters.

Poster for the AAM’s campaign against the resumption of arms sales to South Africa by the 1970–74 Conservative government. The campaign was supported by the churches and the TUC. It involved marches, threats by trade unionists to boycott work on arms for South Africa and a 100,000-signature declaration presented at the 1971 Commonwealth conference in Singapore. As a result of the campaign, the only weapons sold were five Westland Wasp helicopters.

Poster for the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s campaign against the resumption of arms sales to South Africa by the 1970–74 Conservative government. The campaign was supported by the churches and the TUC. It involved marches, threats by trade unionists to boycott work on arms for South Africa and a 100,000-signature declaration presented at the 1971 Commonwealth conference in Singapore. As a result of the campaign, the only weapons sold were five Westland helicopters.

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. This leaflet advertised a regional conference in Leeds for British trade unionists, to discuss how to campaign against arms sales to South Africa. Similar conferences took place in Swansea, Manchester, Edinburgh and Croydon, London. A Gallup poll showed that 71 per cent of the British public were opposed to arms sales. The only weapons sold to South Africa under the 1970–74 government were seven Wasp helicopters.

One of the first decisions of the Conservative government elected in June 1970 was to resume arms sales to South Africa. This leaflet described life under apartheid and set out the moral case for an arms ban.

The 1970–74 Conservative government lifted Labour’s ban on British arms sales to South Africa. In March 1971 it announced the sale of seven Westland Wasp helicopters to the South African Defence Force. The photograph shows anti-apartheid supporters protesting in Downing Street. Although the Wasps were supplied, opposition from British public opinion and from the Commonwealth was so strong that that no other arms deals were agreed.

Slogan painted on the wall of Westland Helicopters factory at Hayes, near London, the night before an AAM demonstration there on 20 March 1971.

In 1971 the Conservative government agreed to sell seven Westland Wasp helicopters to South Africa. This leaflet publicised a march to the Westland factory in Hayes, near London. Trade unionists from DATA (Draughtsmen’s and Allied Technicians’ Association) refused to work on the contract. The helicopters were supplied, but because of widespread opposition these were the only weapons exported to South Africa under the 1970–74 Conservative government.

Demonstrators outside the Westland Helicopters factory after a march through Hayes, Middlesex. In March 1971 the Conservative government announced a contract to sell seven Wasp helicopters to the South African Defence Force. Trade unionists at Westland’s Yeovil plant refused to work on the helicopters. Although the Wasps were supplied, opposition from British public opinion and from the Commonwealth was so strong that that no other arms deals were agreed.

The AAM marked the eleventh anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in 1971 with a rally in Hyde Park against arms sales to South Africa. A dramatised expose of Labour and Conservative governments record on arms sales was presented by artists including Monty Python star Graham Chapman. Because of widespread opposition from the British public the only weapons sold to South Africa by  the 1970–74 Conservative government were seven Wasp helicopters.

Demonstrators waiting for the arrival of South African Defence Minister P W Botha at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, 10 June 1971. Botha was seeking assurances from his British counterpart Lord Carrington that Britain would supply warships to South Africa. He was accompanied by SADF Commander in Chief General Hiemstra, a former Nazi sympathiser.

Demonstrators waiting for the arrival of South African Defence Minister P W Botha at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, 10 June 1971. Tomatoes and smoke flares were thrown at him as he entered the Ministry. Botha was seeking assurances that Britain would supply warships to South Africa. The 1970–74 Conservative government announced that it would lift the arms embargo against South Africa, but because of public opposition the only weapons it supplied were seven Wasp helicopters.

South African Defence Minister P W Botha visited the Ministry of Defence on 10 June 1971 for talks with his British counterpart Lord Carrington. Protesters threw tomatoes and smoke flares as he entered the Ministry. Botha was seeking assurances that Britain would supply warships to South Africa. The 1970–74 Conservative government announced that it would lift the arms embargo against South Africa, but because of public opposition the only weapons it supplied were seven Wasp helicopters.

In 1974 the newly elected Labour government authorised joint naval exercises with the South African navy. The AAM accused it of failing to honour its election manifesto commitments and campaigned for pressure from Labour supporters against all military and economic links with South Africa.

Anti-apartheid campaigners called on the recently elected Labour government to stop all British military collaboration with South Africa and end the Simonstown naval agreement at a demonstration in Whitehall on 31 October 1974. Two months later the government cancelled the agreement.

In December 1974 the Labour government announced it would end the Simonstown naval agreement, but stated that there would be no ban on British ships using South African naval facilities. This leaflet advertised a demonstration on 23 March 1975 calling on the government to end all military collaboration with South Africa.

AAM demonstrators marched through central London on 23 March 1975 to call on the Labour government to stop all military collaboration with South Africa. The government ended the Simonstown Agreement, but continued to supply spare parts and hold joint training exercises with the South African navy. In the photograph is Nigeria’s UN Ambassador Edwin Ogbu, Chair of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid.

This leaflet was distributed on the AAM demonstration held on 23 March 1975. It argued that changes promised by Vorster and Smith were a sham and that the Labour government was collaborating with the white regimes.

AAM demonstrators marched through central London on 23 March 1975 to call on the Labour government to stop all military collaboration with South Africa. The government ended the Simonstown Agreement, but continued to supply spare parts and hold joint training exercises with the South African navy.

This memorandum showed how the Labour government elected in 1974 was failing to honour its election pledge to end military links with South Africa. It asked trade unionists and Labour Party members to press the government to end military co-operation and to take action on Zimbabwe and Namibia.

This report detailed South Africa’s military build-up in the early 1970s and showed how NATO and the Western powers were integrating South Africa into their defence plans. It argued that because of its apartheid policies South Africa was a threat to world peace and should therefore be subject to a mandatory arms ban under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

This report argued that Marconi’s contract to supply troposcatter communications equipment to South Africa was a breach of the arms embargo imposed by the 1974 Labour government. The equipment was to be used to send information from the South African forces fighting SWAPO guerrillas in northern Namibia to the Defence Department’s computer centre in the Cape. The AAM argued that the arms ban should cover all equipment with ‘dual purpose’ military and civilian use and that no equipment should be sold to the South African defence forces.

In 1976 the AAM campaigned to stop the supply of GEC-Marconi communications equipment to the South African Defence Force on the grounds that it breached the Labour government’s arms embargo. It argued the system would be used against SWAPO guerrillas in Namibia. After the government decided that the equipment would require an export licence, the apartheid government announced that communications in Namibia would in future be the responsibility of the South African Post Office. In October 1976 the British government announced that it would grant an export licence. This AAM fact sheet called for a parliamentary enquiry to investigate loopholes in the British arms embargo.

The AAM carried out detailed research into the loopholes in the arms embargo imposed by the 1974–79 Labour government against South Africa. This memorandum showed how the South African Defence Force was obtaining a wide range of British military equipment in spite of the embargo.

One of a set of three posters publicising the AAM’s campaign to isolate South Africa in the aftermath of the 1976 Soweto student uprising.

In 1976 the AAM received evidence that the illegal white minority regime in Rhodesia was obtaining British military equipment from South Africa for use in its war against ZANU and ZAPU guerrilla fighters. This letter asked Prime Minister James Callaghan to tighten the British arms embargo against South Africa.

After the Soweto student uprising in June 1976, the AAM stepped up its campaign to stop Britain selling arms to South Africa. This poster uses the iconic photo of Hector Pieterson, the first student killed in the protests.

Over 3000 people marched through Glasgow on 5 March 1977 calling for a strict arms embargo against South Africa and a freeze on British investment there. Among the speakers at a rally were Duma Nokwe of the African National Congress, the General Secretary of the Scottish TUC James Milne and Rev. Geoff Shaw, Convenor of Strathclyde Regional Council. The event was organised by the AAM Scottish Committee to coincide with a demonstration in London the following day.

Leaflet publicising a rally in Trafalgar Square on 6 March 1977 calling on the British government to impose a strict arms embargo on South Afria and halt all new investment there. The speakers included representatives of all the main Southern African liberation movements, Duma Nokwe (ANC), Misheke Muyongo (SWAPO), Dzinga Mutumbuko (ZANU) and Daniel Madzimbamutu (ZAPU), as well as Pauline Webb, representing the World Council of Churches, Labour MP Joan Lestor and Abdul Minty (AAM).

Trade union banners on a march to Trafalgar Square calling for an end to British arms sales to South Africa and a freeze on investment, 6 March 1977. 

Southampton University Student Union banner on a march to Trafalgar Square calling for an end to British arms sales to South Africa and a freeze on investment, 6 March 1977. 

Trade union banners on a march to Trafalgar Square calling for an end to British arms sales to South Africa and a freeze on investment, 6 March 1977.

Labour MP Joan Lestor addressed an AAM rally in Trafalgar Square, 6 March 1977. She said that British firms invested in South Africa because cheap black labour produced high profit rates. Also on the platform (left to right) are AAM Chair Bob Hughes MP, Neil Kinnock MP, SWAPO representative Shapua Kaukungua, Joan Lestor MP, Pauline Webb from the Methodist Conference and AAM Hon. Secretary Abdul Minty.

Letter following up a meeting between an AAM delegation and Foreign Office Minister Ted Rowlands to discuss the AAM’s memorandum of 19 April 1976 on Britain’s arms embargo. The letter detailed loopholes in the arms embargo and exposed the fact that South Africa had access to the NATO Codification System.

After the 1976 Soweto uprising the AAM stepped up its campaign for the Labour government to end all contacts between the British and South African armed forces and support a mandatory UN embargo. This petition was signed by 64,000 people and presented to the Foreign Secretary David Owen on 21 March 1977, the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. In November Britain dropped its veto and the UN imposed a mandatory arms ban on South Africa.

AAM Hon. Secretary Abdul Minty, Chair Bob Hughes MP and Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe delivered a petition to Labour Foreign Secretary David Owen on the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, 21 March 1977. It asked the British government to impose a strict British arms ban against South Africa and support a UN mandatory embargo. Next day Abdul Minty travelled to New York to represent the AAM at a special UN Security Council meeting on South Africa. The UN imposed a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa in November 1977.

Examination of the role of the British company ICL in computerising the pass laws and supplying equipment to the South African police and military.

Letter to Foreign Secretary David Owen from the AAM’s Hon. Secretary Abdul Minty in November 1978 enclosing evidence of breaches of the British arms embargo against South Africa and calling for a parliamentary inquiry. 

In September 1979 South Africa exploded a nuclear device in the South Atlantic Ocean. An exposé of its nuclear programme, South Africa’s Nuclear Capability, was published by the World Campaign against Military and Nuclear Collaboration with South Africa. This sticker was produced as part of the AAM’s campaign against the sharing of Western nuclear technology with South Africa.

The AAM launched the World Campaign Against Military and Nuclear Collaboration in 1979. Its aim was to expose military and nuclear collaboration with South Africa and strengthen the UN arms embargo. Much of AAM’s international activity in the 1980s was through this campaign, collaborating with national anti-apartheid groups worldwide. Action included presenting detailed evidence to the UN about breaches of its mandatory embargo.

In 1979 South Africa tested a nuclear device in the south Atlantic Ocean. This report traced the development of South Africa’s nuclear capacity and showed how Western countries had helped create it.

In 1981 the AAM asked the British government to stop the sale of radar equipment manufactured by Plessey, a British electronics company, to the South African Defence Force. This pamphlet argued that the contract was in breach of the mandatory UN arms embargo.

Poster publicising a meeting organised by Hackney AA Group and Hackney CND on 21 July 1981.

Leaflet advertising a conference on South Africa’s nuclear bomb and the campaign against British nuclear collaboration with apartheid.

In 1979 South Africa conducted a secret nuclear test and it became clear that it was trying to develop a nuclear bomb. The AAM campaigned to stop Western countries, especially West Germany, supplying it with nuclear technology.

Report detailing South Africa’s military build-up in the early 1980s and its attacks on the front-line states. The Committee on South African War Resistance (COSAWR) was set up by young white South Africans who refused to be conscripted into the apartheid government’s armed forces. Increasing numbers of them were forced into exile from the late 1970s. They played an important part in anti-apartheid campaigns, especially in Britain, and COSAWR worked closely with the Anti-Apartheid Movement.