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In December 1988 South Africa signed the UN Plan for the Independence of Namibia, which led to the holding of free elections in November 1989. Church Action on Namibia marked 1 April 1989, the date set for the implementation of the plan, with a street theatre performance outside the South African Embassy showing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher greeting South African President P W Botha.

Supporters of End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) leafleted shareholders outside the annual general meeting of NatWest Bank in April 1989. They were asking the bank not to take part in an agreement to reschedule South Africa’s foreign debt. In 1985 South Africa was forced to announce a moratorium on its debt repayments, a crunch moment in the decline of the apartheid economy which led to the opening of negotiations in the early 1990s.

This petition was launched in April 1989 to pressure the British government to intervene to stop all death sentences in political trials in South Africa. The AAM also sent a delegation to Foreign Office Minister Lynda Chalker. The number of death sentences imposed on political prisoners increased sharply from the mid-1980s. The petition was signed by 34,000 people and presented to the British parliament on 10 November 1989. 

Over 300 people attended this meeting to hear Tina Forbes, whose son Ashley was serving a 15-year sentence on Robben Island, and Silus Mkanunu from the South African Association of Democratic Lawyers. The meeting launched SATIS’s ‘No Apartheid Executions’ petition.

In December 1988 agreement was reached on a process leading to Namibian independence. Elections were scheduled for 7–11 November. AAM President Trevor Huddleston launched a British appeal for support for the South West Africa People’s Organisation’s (SWAPO) election campaign in the House of Commons in April 1989. The campaign was widely supported, including by British trade unions and the Labour and Liberal Parties.

In December 1988 agreement was reached on a process leading to Namibian independence. Elections were scheduled for 7–11 November. AAM President Trevor Huddleston launched a British appeal for support for the South West Africa People’s Organisation’s (SWAPO) election campaign in the House of Commons in April 1989. 

In December 1988 agreement was reached on a process leading to Namibian independence. Elections were scheduled for 7–11 November 1989. AAM President Trevor Huddleston launched a British appeal for support for the South West Africa People’s Organisation’s (SWAPO) election campaign in the House of Commons in April 1989. ‘A Night for Namibia’ was one of many events held to raise funds for the appeal.

This speaking tour of Scotland and northern England was a follow-up to the 1988 conference on ‘Children and Apartheid’. Childcare experts and representatives from South Africa, Namibia and  Mozambique spoke at seminars and meetings at the main regional centres.