Newsletters

Theresa Ramashamola was the only woman among the Sharpeville Six, who were condemned to hang because they took part in a township demonstration at which a black councillor was killed. The AAM Women’s Committee campaigned for her release and this issue of the newsletter advertised a women’s protest at the South African Embassy in London. It also carried an interview with Sister Bernard Ncube, released after being held in detention for 16 months and a report of Leeds Women Against Apartheid’s car cavalcade collecting materials for the ANC’s Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Tanzania.

The Anti-Apartheid Women’s Committee published a regular newsletter from its formation in 1981. This issue mourned the death of Dulcie September, assassinated in Paris by apartheid agents. It publicised the ill-treatment of young girls and women held in detention in South Africa and reported on the South African Domestic Workers Union’s living wage campaign.

In the face of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s obdurate refusal to impose any form of sanctions against South Africa, the AAM called for a people’s boycott of South African goods under the slogan ‘Boycott Apartheid ’89’. The women’s newsletter advertised a special month of action on women as part of the campaign. This issue also celebrated the release from prison of Umkhonto we Sizwe member Thandi Modise and reported on the South African drama group Sisters of the Long March’s tour of Britain.