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At least 50,000 people marched through London on 2 June 1984 to tell South African President P W Botha he was not welcome in Britain. The demonstration was the beginning of an upsurge of anti-apartheid action which gathered pace for the rest of the decade.  Botha met Prime Minister Thatcher at her country house Chequers, instead of Downing Street, because of the scale of the protest.

A speaker at the rally in Jubilee Gardens on London’s South Bank on 2 June 1984. At least 50,000 people marched through London to tell South African President P W Botha he was not welcome in Britain. London’s black and Asian community were at the forefront of opposition to Botha’s visit. The demonstration was the beginning of an upsurge of anti-apartheid action which gathered pace for the rest of the decade.

The march against P W Botha on 2 June 1984 was followed by a free concert in Jubilee Gardens on London’s South Bank. This was one of a series of big music festivals organised by the AAM in the 1980s. It was sponsored by the Greater London Council.

Letter from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher about her meeting with P W Botha in June 1984. Instead of calling for one person one vote, she told him that the British government would accept a system of government that had ‘the consent of the South African people’. She said she had ‘expressed concern at the continued detention of Nelson Mandela’.

This leaflet made the case for the expulsion of South Africa from the World Psychiatric Association. It was distributed at a seminar held at a WPA regional symposium in Helsinki in June 1984, which called for the expulsion of South Africa from world psychiatry. This was the start of a long campaign which won the support of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Psychological Society.

From the late 1970s local AA groups held annual sponsored walks to raise funds for the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College on Tanzania. The walks took place around 16 June, the anniversary of the school students uprising in Soweto. Anti-apartheid supporters in Brent, north-west London, wore this badge on their walk in 1984.

In June 1984 the police banned anti-apartheid protesters from the pavement in front of South Africa House. City of London AA Group supporters demonstrated against the ban on the steps of St Martin’s in the Fields, 22 June 1984.

David Kitson reunited with his wife Norma on his arrival in London after his release from Pretoria Central prison in June 1984. In 1964 Kitson was convicted of sabotage and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.