pic6104. Trafalgar Square rally, 28 May 1961

AAM supporters met in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 28 May 1961 in support of a strike in South Africa in protest against celebrations of South Africa becoming a republic on 31 May. The strike was called by a specially convened National Action Committee, which asked workers to stay at home on 29, 30 and 31 May. There was massive repression in the run-up to the strike and it had only patchy support. The strike was the last major attempt at mass peaceful protest in South Africa until the mid-1980s.