Browse the AAM Archive

The April issue called on the re-elected Labour Government to ask the UN Security Council to impose mandatory sanctions against Rhodesia to stop South Africa and Portugal supporting the Smith regime. It carried summaries of the papers submitted to the international conference on South West Africa (Namibia) organised by the AAM. Reports of campaign actions organised by anti-apartheid groups around Britain included a piece on  Leeds University AAM’s anti-apartheid week.  

The AAM responded to the British Government’s announcement that it had reopened talks with the illegal Smith regime in Rhodesia by launching a petition calling for majority rule. The May issue carried the petition. It summarised Bram Fischer’s speech from the dock and looked at where new Labour MPs elected in March 1966 stood on Southern Africa. It featured a statement by prominent academics and writers countering the argument that recent coups in West Africa meant that the British should support ‘stable’ minority governments in South Africa and Rhodesia.

In the summer of 1966 the AAM stepped up its campaign against a sell-out on Rhodesia. AA News reported on the AAM’s lobby of parliament and poster parade in Trafalgar Square. It highlighted plans for a march through central London demanding ‘Freedom for Rhodesia’ on 26 June. It also highlighted the worldwide protests against the sentence of life imprisonment imposed on Bram Fischer in South Africa.

Under the headline ‘A great day in the Square’ AA News reported on the AAM’s march and rally demanding majority rule in Rhodesia. It reported on independence talks on Basutoland (Lesotho) and criticised Senator Robert Kennedy for his opposition to sanctions after his visit to South Africa.

The September issue welcomed Liberal MP David Steel as President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Recently released political prisoner Dennis Brutus gave an inside account of the brutal treatment of prisoners on Robben Island. An article by Fabian Society representative Margaret Roberts exposed the failures of the Labour Government’s policies on Southern Africa. The issue also carried a piece by former SWANU (South West Africa National Union) President Jariretundu Kozonguizi on the International Court of Justice’s failure to rule that South Africa had violated its mandate in South West Africa (Namibia).

The October issue accused Britain’s Labour Government of siding with apartheid and called for new protests against its policies on Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South West Africa (Namibia). It exposed starvation conditions among black South Africans in rural areas. The issue profiled Johannes Vorster, who took over as South Africa’s new Prime Minister after the assassination of Hendrik Verwoerd in September 1966.

In an editorial, AA News warned that the Wilson Government was about to do a deal with Ian Smith in Rhodesia and launched a new campaign against any settlement that fell short of majority rule. A report on the AAM’s annual general meeting recorded the failures of the past year and the AAM’s difficult financial situation. Alan Brooks wrote about conditions for white political prisoners in Pretoria Central Prison. In an article headed ‘The fight continues’ Judy Todd warned that Rhodesians had decided that the only way they could achieve a democratic majority government was by force of arms.

This issue carried a detailed analysis of the British Government’s proposals for a settlement with the Smith regime. An editorial argued that sanctions against Rhodesia could only be effective if the international community acted to stop South African sanctions breaking. On the eve of Swaziland’s independence, Caroline de Crespigny highlighted its economic dependence on South Africa. AA News reported on growing West German and US investment in the apartheid economy.