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Thousands of people marched through central London on 11 November 1979 to demand that Britain should not agree to any settlement on Zimbabwe that fell short of genuine majority rule. After lengthy negotiations, elections were held in February 1980. They were won by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front under the leadership of Robert Mugabe.

Thousands of people marched through central London on 11 November 1979 to demand that Britain should not agree to any settlement on Zimbabwe that fell short of genuine majority rule. After lengthy negotiations, elections were held in February 1980. They were won by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front under the leadership of Robert Mugabe.

At the head of a march through central London on 11 November 1979 to demand there should be no agreement on Zimbabwe that fell short of genuine majority rule. In the photograph are Labour MPs Clare Short, Alex Lyon and AAM Chair Bob Hughes with Edson Zvobgo, Publicity Secretary of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front. After lengthy negotiations, elections were held in February 1980. They were won by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front under the leadership of Robert Mugabe.

This report was published at the start of the Lancaster House conference that led to the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. It made a detailed analysis of the illegal Smith regime’s military capacity and argued that it was impossible to achieve peace in Zimbabwe without disbanding the security forces.

In 1979 South Africa conducted a secret nuclear test and it became clear that it was trying to develop a nuclear bomb. With the World Campaign against Military and Nuclear Collaboration with South Africa, the AAM launched an international campaign for the extension of the 1977 UN mandatory arms embargo to cover all forms of nuclear collaboration. This petition was widely circulated, including to all local Labour Parties and branches of the engineering workers union.

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 British based merchant bank Hill Samuel played a major role in mobilising loans from Western banks to the South African government and its parastatal corporations. This briefing from End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) showed how in the 1970s Eurocurrency loans arranged by Hill Samuel made up a growing proportion of total overseas investment in South Africa. It listed the parastatal corporations for which Hill Samuel arranged loans between 1972 and 1978. ELTSA was set up in the early 1970s to campaign against Western banks involvement in Southern 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.