1980s

The June issue demanded ‘Sanctions Now!’ in support of the three-day stayaway planned by the UDF and COSATU in South Africa. The newspaper reported on Bristol’s St Paul’s apartheid free zone and on the row over the exclusion of South African delegates from the World Archaeological Congress to be held in Southampton in September. A special feature by Ethel de Keyser described her visit to the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania. Equity member Louis Mahoney reported on the High Court action brought to challenge Equity’s instruction banning its members from performing in South Africa.

Nearly 200 British local authorities had taken some form of action to isolate apartheid South Africa, according to this issue of AA News. In South Africa millions stayed away from work on 16 June, the anniversary of the Soweto uprising. The newspaper reported on the decision by the television technicians union ACCT to ban its members from working on features for South African television and on the links formed by the AAM Women’s Committee with other women’s groups. Ida Jimmy from SWAPO described her traumatic experience as a political prisoner.

AA News welcomed the sanctions package imposed by the Commonwealth mini-summit held in London and warned that British Prime Minister Thatcher might retaliate by supporting South Africa in its attacks on the frontline states. SWAPO leader Philemon Itula called for more action on Namibia from local AA groups. In a speech at a conference of the local government workers union NALGO, South African trade unionist Themba Nxumalo declared COSATU’s support for sanctions. A centrespread featured pictures of the AAM’s 250,000-strong Festival of Freedom held on 28 June on London’s Clapham Common.

AA News accused the world’s media of ignoring Namibia’s struggle to free itself from South Africa’s illegal occupation and called on the British government to support UN resolution 435. In an undercover interview, a UDF activist said that the State of Emergency imposed by the apartheid government had failed to suppress resistance within South Africa. Jean Middleton reported on a vigil held to mourn three young MK activists hanged by the apartheid government. Abdul Minty argued against a policy of gradual sanctions and explained the need for the imposition of comprehensive mandatory sanctions by the UN Security Council.

In a report from a special correspondent just returned from an undercover visit to South Africa, AA News reported on police atrocities in the townships and rural areas.  The newspaper exposed the British Government’s failure to impose even the limited sanctions it had agreed to impose on South Africa. Alan Brooks explained the critical role played by the frontline states in resistance to apartheid. A centrespread reported on the successes of the AAM’s consumer boycott campaign and on trade union boycott action. Highlighting the role of theatre in anti-apartheid campaigning, AA News reported on Temba Theatre Company’s production of Woza Albert.

‘Who Killed Samora Machel?’ was the front page headline of this issue, accusing the Pretoria Government of responsibility for the plane crash that killed the Mozambique president. In an exclusive interview, Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Ben Mkapa accused the British Government of failure to take any meaningful action against apartheid. Celebrating the first anniversary of the formation of the South African trade union federation COSATU, AA News highlighted the role of trade unions in ending apartheid. The US Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Action, passed by the US Congress in September 1986, had significant loopholes, argued US activist Jeanne Woods.

In the year of an expected British general election, AA News launched the AAM’s 1987 Manifesto for Sanctions. It celebrated the 75th anniversary of the formation of the ANC with an appeal for increased support for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and Namibia. The newspaper highlighted the large number of children held in detention and the police crackdown on schools in the townships. It featured a visit to Britain by Namibian church leaders and prospects for an international blockade of illegally mined uranium from Namibia. A special report focused on South Africa’s sabotage of trade routes in the Southern African region.

‘People’s Sanctions Work’, headlined AA News, with a report of Ford’s decision to end the import of pick-up trucks from South Africa in response to trade union demands. The newspaper reported on the decision by the AAM’s annual general meeting to launch a total boycott of Shell. A report from the London Boycott Working Group looked at the South African Tourist Board’s attempts to boost tourism. AA News highlighted the case of Viraj Mendis, threatened with deportation from Britain to Sri Lanka, drawing parallels between South Africa’s pass laws and British immigration legislation.