The Upington 14 were sentenced to death on 26 May 1989 because they were present at a demonstration during which a black policeman was killed. They included a 60-year old woman, Evelyn de Bruin. After an international campaign for their release, the sentence was overturned in May 1991.
In the late 1980s the AAM joined with other European anti-apartheid organisations to co-ordinate pressure on the European Economic Community to impose targeted sanctions against South Africa. This manifesto was published in the run-up to the 1989 elections to the European Parliament. It called for a mandatory embargo on coal and agricultural imports from South Africa and a ban on bank loans and credit facilities.
The Upington 14 were sentenced to death on 26 May 1989 because they were present at a demonstration during which a black policeman was killed. They included a 60-year old woman, Evelyn de Bruin. Anti-apartheid supporters picketed the South African Embassy in London calling for clemency for the Upington 14. After an international campaign for their release, the sentence was overturned in May 1991.
The AAM held its first women only conference on 3 June 1989, following a Month of Action in March, which publicised the impact of apartheid on South African women. All over Britain, women held meetings, exhibitions and benefit concerts.
This women-only conference, held at Wesley House Women’s Centre in central London in 1989, discussed ideas for campaigning in solidarity with women in Southern Africa. It also talked about the position of women within the AAM and pressed for women to have a more distinctive voice.
Tjeluvuyo Mgedezi was one of three mineworkers sentenced to death in May 1987. The British National Union of Mineworkers circulated a petition calling for his release to its members. It distributed 20,000 copies of this leaflet and publicised the case in its journal. In May 1989 the sentence was commuted to a long term of imprisonment.
The AAM depended on membership subscriptions and fundraising events to pay for its campaigns. It received no government grants and no significant funding from grant-giving organisations. It depended on grassroots supporters to raise money by supporting initiatives like this annual sponsored Freedom Run, held in Brockwell Park, south London.
The AAM held its first Freedom Run in Brockwell Park, south London, on 11 June 1989. The Freedom Run became an annual event, raising funds for the AAM and for projects in Southern Africa.
