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Protesters gathered outside South Africa House for three days before the execution of Solomon Mahlangu on 6 April 1979. This protest took place on 3 April. Solomon Mahlangu was a young ANC freedom fighter sentenced to death in March 1978 for his involvement in a gun battle with police in which two men died. The judge accepted that he had not fired the fatal shots. He was hanged in spite of a huge international campaign. The UN Security Council and the governments of the UK and all the other major other Western European countries appealed to the South African government for clemency. US President Jimmy Carter also intervened. 

Hundreds of people kept an all-night vigil at South Africa House in London before the execution of Solomon Mahlangu on 6 April 1979. In Scotland AAM supporters picketed the South African consulate in Glasgow. Solomon Mahlangu was hanged in spite of a huge international campaign. The UN Security Council and the governments of the UK and all the other major Western European countries appealed to the South African government for clemency. US President Jimmy Carter also intervened.

In the late 1970s after the Soweto uprising and the growth of independent trade unions in South Africa, there was a big increase in the number of British trade unions affiliated to the AAM. The main theme of this 1979 conference for British trade unionists was the campaign for sanctions against South Africa.

From 1978 anti-apartheid local groups held sponsored walks on the anniversary of the Soweto uprising to raise funds for the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom School in Tanzania. This photograph shows AAM members in Barnet, north London, getting ready for their walk in May 1979.

From 1978 anti-apartheid local groups held sponsored walks on the anniversary of the Soweto uprising to raise funds for the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom School in Tanzania. In the photograph are Det Glynn of Camden AA Group and AAM staff member Chris Child getting ready for a sponsored walk in Camden, London in June 1979.

 

 

This conference reviewed the achievements of the AAM on the twentieth anniversary of its founding and looked at future prospects for the freedom struggle in an international context. It was held on 26 June 1979, South Africa Freedom Day. The main speaker was ANC President Oliver Tambo.

In June 1979 it seemed likely that the newly elected Conservative government would recognise the ‘internal settlement’ in Zimbabwe. This leaflet publicised a demonstration opposing recognition and calling for support for the liberation movement. The main speaker was Patriotic Front (ZAPU) Vice-President Josiah Chinamano.

In the summer of 1979 the AAM campaigned to stop the Conservative government elected in May 1979 from recognising the Muzorewa government in Zimbabwe. This poster was produced for the AAM rally and march through central London on 30 June calling for genuine independence in Zimbabwe under the leadership of the Zimbabwean Patriotic Front.