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Anti-apartheid supporters protested outside the reception at the opening of an ‘embassy’ for the Bophuthatswana Bantustan in Holland Park, West London on 7 September 1982. ‘President’ Lucas Mangope was given a special travel document by the British government to attend the opening, but the government refused to recognise Bophuthatswana as an independent state and ‘Bop House’ had no diplomatic status.

On 11 October 1982 the AAM launched a new campaign for the release of Nelson Mandela in response to a request from Oliver Tambo. On the eve of the launch supporters took part in a ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ sponsored cycle ride from Richmond Park to Trafalgar Square. Next day the AAM launched an international petition calling for Mandela’s release and held a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy.

This petition was launched on 11 October 1982, International Day of Solidarity with South African Political Prisoners. At the same time, the Free Nelson Mandela Co-ordinating Committee was set up to ask sympathetic groups to organise events to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 65th birthday on 18 July 1983.

These stickers reproduced the logo for the 1982-83 ‘Release Mandela!’ campaign. The logo was used on material advertising events organised under the umbrella of the Free Nelson Mandela Co-ordinating Committee.

On 14 March 1982 undercover South Africa agents planted a bomb at the ANC’s London office which did extensive damage. The bomb followed a series of burglaries at the offices of the AAM and other Southern African solidarity groups. This memorandum was presented to the British government by representatives of the AAM at a meeting with the Home Secretary on 13 October 1982. It asked the government to investigate the activities of staff at the South African Embassy in London. It alleged that South Africa used London as a centre for planning subversive activities against independent African states.

Programme for a conference on women organised by AAM women members and the North West Regional Council of the TUC in Liverpool.

Poster advertising a week of action on Namibia, 27 October to 3 November 1982. The week began with a march through London when ‘summonses’ were served at the offices of companies that collaborated with South Africa’s illegal rule in Namibia. It also featured a speaking tour by SWAPO representative Jacob Hannai and a special leaflet on Barclays and Namibia.

Anti-apartheid supporters outside the London offices of Blue Star Port Line during the Week of Action on Namibia organised by the AAM and the Namibia Support Committee, 27 October to 3 November 1982. The company was running a shipping service to Walvis Bay in defiance of UN rulings. Other British companies operating in Namibia were targeted during the week. A former worker at RTZ’s Rossing uranium mine, Arthur Pickering, and a representative of SWAPO’s Women’s Council, Frieda Williams, spoke at 50 meetings all over Britain.