Local authorities

The ANC’s cultural group Amandla was formed in Angola after the 1976 Soweto uprising. It was made up of 30 young South African singers, dancers and musicians. On its1985 tour of Britain it visited centres all over the country, performing and holding workshops on music, dance and drama. The tour included shows at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Shaw Theatre. It was sponsored by trade unions and local authorities.

ANC President Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela’s daughter Zenani Mandela unveiled a bust of Nelson Mandela on London’s south bank on 28 October 1985. The bust was created by sculptor Ian Walters and sponsored by the Greater London Council.

Sticker produced by Islington Borough Council in north London asking shoppers not to buy South African goods.

Leaflet advertising a rally at Manchester City Hall on the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre. The meeting was organised by Manchester City Council, the Anglican Diocese of Manchester and Manchester AA Group.

Poster publicising a week of anti-apartheid events in Lambeth, south London in 1986.

Report of the third biennial conference of Local Authority Action Against Apartheid, held in Glasgow in February 1987.

On 1 March 1987 the AAM launched a boycott of Shell as part of an international campaign. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries and a lead company in South Africa’s coalmining and petrochemicals industries. During the March Month of People’s Sanctions activists picketed Shell garages all over Britain. The photo shows Frances Morrell, Leader of the ILEA (Inner London Education Authority) with David Haslam from Embargo outside a Shell garage in north London with a mock gun symbolising Shell’s support for the South African Defence Force. Embargo was a co-ordinating group campaigning against oil supplies to South Africa.

Hounslow AA Group was formed at the end of 1985. Its 1987 AGM report highlighted the AAM’s 24 March day of protest action and reported on the local council’s funding for an anti-apartheid campaign event as part of the national ‘ten days of anti-apartheid action’ planned to take place in June 1987.