1960s

This issue deplored the failure of the Labour government to fulfil its promise to make a stand against racism in Britain and in Southern Africa. It reported on a giant art exhibition held in London to raise funds for the families of South African political prisoners. It announced plans for an international conference on South West Africa (Namibia) and carried an article on a new right-wing Africa lobby group in the USA.

Following Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in November 1965, AA News argued that sanctions against the Smith regime in Rhodesia would fail unless measures were also taken against South Africa and Portugal. This issue also reported on the launch of a boycott by British academics of posts in South African universities. It reviewed the past year, arguing that the Nationalist Party in South Africa had consolidated its position, but that the spirit of resistance had been kept alive by courageous political prisoners.

This issue marked the first anniversary of the launch of AA News by setting out the AAM’s aims for 1966: to impose sanctions on South Africa as well as against the Smith regime in Rhodesia. It highlighted two AAM conferences – against the ‘unholy alliance’ between South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal, as the colonial power in Angola and Mozambique, and on Namibia. It featured the academic boycott of South African and reported on the launch of the UK-South Africa Trade Association. It carried an article on the strengthening of economic ties between France and South Africa.

In the run-up to the whites-only election in South Africa, AA News revealed South Africa’s support for the illegal Smith regime in Rhodesia. It exposed the torture of South African detainees and reported on the setting up of schools by the Mozambique liberation movement FRELIMO in the liberated northern areas of Mozambique. In a centrespread and editorial, AA News highlighted how the apartheid government had abused its League of Nations mandate over South West Africa (Namibia).

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.