1980s

Actor Leonard Fenton, a stars of the TV soap EastEnders, presented the first prize of a holiday in China in the AAM’s 1988 Prize Raffle. Fundraising was an important part of the AAM’s activities. It depended entirely on small donations and fundraising projects and received no grants from government or major donor institutions.

Still from a film advertisement promoting the boycott of South African goods, made by the TUC. The ad was shown in cinemas throughout Britain. It won the Gold Lion Award at the 34th Cannes International Advertising film Festival.

Protesters in Southampton demonstrated against the import of uranium from Namibia through the city’s docks in February 1989. The protest was organised by Southampton AA Group and local supporters of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Green Party.

Early in 1989 more than 300 South African detainees went on hunger strike in protest against their detention without trial. Altogether over 1,000 people were held without charge, some of them for over two years. AAM and ANC supporters held a vigil outside South Africa House. Southern Africa the Imprisoned Society (SATIS) asked British Foreign Office Minister Lynda Chalker to tell the South African ambassador that his government must release the detainees.

AAM Chair Bob Hughes MP signed a giant Outspan orange at the launch of the AAM’s ‘Boycott Apartheid 89’ campaign on 20 February 1989. The launch took place outside Cape Fruit’s London headquarters. The AAM asked shoppers to impose ‘people’s sanctions’ against apartheid in the face of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s refusal to impose government sanctions. As well as Cape fruit and Outspan oranges, the campaign focused on tourism and imports of coal and gold.

This petition was circulated as part the AAM’s Boycott Apartheid 89 campaign. The centrepiece of the campaign was the Boycott Bandwagon, a bus converted to display exhibition material and show a specially commissioned video about the boycott. It toured 140 towns and cities during the year. The campaign was launched outside Cape Fruit’s London headquarters on 20 February. AAM Chair Bob Hughes MP signed a giant inflatable Outspan orange with a pledge not to buy South African fruit.

In February 1989 the Anti-Apartheid Movement launched the ‘Boycott 89’ campaign to intensify the boycott of products of apartheid. The material produced for the campaign included a video, Fruits of Fear, and leaflets focusing on Cape and Outspan products, as well as major supermarket chains like Tesco. The centrepiece was the Boycott Bandwagon, a converted double-decker bus, which visited over 140 towns, cities and villages during the year.

The AAM’s Boycott 89 campaign extended the boycott of South African fruit to gold and tourism. Its centrepiece was the Boycott Bandwagon, a bus converted to display exhibition material and show a specially commissioned video about the boycott. It toured 140 towns and cities during the year. The campaign was launched outside Cape Fruit’s London headquarters on 20 February. This brochure included a special pledge form and provided information about the campaign.