Boycott

Carrier bag publicising the campaign to boycott South African goods.

Margaret Ling joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a student in 1972 and worked in the Information Department of the International Defence and Aid Fund from 1975 to 1984. In the 1980s she edited the AAM’s monthly newspaper Anti-Apartheid News. She was a co-founder of AA Enterprises, which traded with the front line states and marketed anti-apartheid T-shirts and other merchandise. She was active in the Haringey AA Group and served on the national executive of the AAM.

In this clip Margaret Ling describes how the boycott campaign succeeded.

Margaret Ling joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a student in 1972 and worked in the Information Department of the International Defence and Aid Fund from 1975 to 1984. In the 1980s she edited the AAM’s monthly newspaper Anti-Apartheid News. She was a co-founder of AA Enterprises, which traded with the front line states and marketed anti-apartheid T-shirts and other merchandise. She was active in the Haringey AA Group and served on the national executive of the AAM.

In this clip Margaret Ling describes the positive purchase campaign that accompanied the boycott.

Sean O’Donovan became involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement in 1984 as a student at Middlesex Polytechnic. He joined Haringey Anti-Apartheid Group in north London and served as its Secretary, and later Chair, until it disbanded in 1994.  He was active in the London AA Committee, the co-ordinating body for London anti-apartheid groups, and served on the AAM National Executive. He now works as a  caseworker for a Labour MP.

In this clip Sean describes a demonstration at the opening of a local supermarket, where the mayor of Haringey and the local MP joined members of Haringey AA Group in asking the store not to sell South African goods.

David Hillman became an Anti-Apartheid Movement activist in 1985, joining Hammersmith and Fulham AA Group.  He was a member of the London Anti-Apartheid Committee and the AAM Boycott Committee, where he led activities on the Boycott Shell campaign across London. After 1994, he served for over 10 years as a member of the National Executive Committee of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

In this clip David Hillman describes how he and other anti-apartheid activists attempted to sabotage the tourist industry’s promotion of holidays in South Africa.

David Granville joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London in the early 1980s and later moved to Sheffield, where he was active in Sheffield AA Group. He was the Co-ordinator of Sheffield Southern Africa Resource Centre, set up in 1988 to provide educational resources on Southern Africa to schools and community organisations. 

In this clip David Granville explains how most British institutions and companies had links with apartheid South Africa and how the AAM selected key supermarkets and banks on which to campaign. 

David Hillman became an Anti-Apartheid Movement activist in 1985, joining Hammersmith and Fulham AA Group. He was a member of the London Anti-Apartheid Committee and the AAM Boycott Committee, where he led activities on the Boycott Shell campaign across London. After 1994, he served for over 10 years as a member of the National Executive Committee of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).

In this clip David Hillman describes how he pretended to be a journalist to infiltrate South Africa House during a tourist industry convention.

 

Gerard Omasta-Milsom joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement as a student at Bristol University, where he was an activist in Bristol University AA Group. In 1988 he joined the staff of the Anti-Apartheid Movement as Field Officer, responsible for coordinating the activities of local anti-apartheid groups. He became the AAM’s Campaigns Officer, remaining in post through the period when the AAM dissolved itself and set up a successor organisation, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) in 1994–95.

In this clip Gerard describes the outreach work carried out in the 1980s and 90s with the AAM’s 1989 Boycott Bandwagon, converted the following year into the Freedom Bus.