The huge Cabora Bassa dam project in Mozambique was a collaboration between South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal. Barclays Bank was first targeted by anti-apartheid campaigners because it was one of the British companies involved. The project was intended to supply electricity to South Africa.

Barclays Bank was first targeted by anti-apartheid campaigners because it was involved in the Cabora Bassa dam project in Mozambique. The campaign against it grew because it was one of the biggest banks in Southern Africa. The Dambusters Mobilising Committee was a coalition of groups including the AAM set up on the initiative of the African National Congress.

The huge Cabora Bassa dam project in Mozambique was a collaboration between South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal. The project was intended to supply electricity to South Africa. This pamphlet was written for the Dambusters Mobilising Committee, a coalition of groups set up to campaign against the involvement of British companies in the project. The pamphlet and a campaign poster were funded by the WCC’s Programme to Combat Racism.

Anti-apartheid supporters campaigned to force Barclays Bank to withdraw from South Africa from 1970 until the bank pulled out in 1986. The Haslemere Group played a leading part in initiating the campaign. In 1971 it pioneered the tactic of buying shares to protest at a company annual general meeting.

Students were at the forefront of the boycott of Barclays Bank. Student unions banned Barclays from freshers fairs and students picketed Barclays branches to persuade others to close their accounts. This leaflet set out the ways in which the bank supported apartheid.

Barclays Bank was first targeted by anti-apartheid campaigners because it guaranteed a loan for the Cabora Bassa dam project in Mozambique. The project planned to supply electricity to South Africa. This poster was produced by the Haslemere Group, one of the organisations that set up the Dambusters Mobilising Committee to oppose Western involvement in the project. The campaign against Barclays quickly escalated because Barclays DCO was South Africa’s biggest high street bank.

Anti-apartheid supporters campaigned to force Barclays Bank to withdraw from South Africa from 1970 until the bank pulled out in 1986. This booklet describes Barclays long history of involvement in South Africa. It set out the many ways in which Barclays supported apartheid. The booklet was produced in 1975 by the AAM and the Haslemere Group, which played a leading part in initiating the Barclays campaign.

This report was an update of the pamphlet published by the AAM and the Haslemere Group in 1975. It showed how Barclays co-operated with the apartheid government and argued that its presence in South Africa led to increased emigration, trade and investment there.

Poster produced for the campaign to make Barclays Bank withdraw from South Africa. The campaign started in 1969 in response to Barclays’ involvement in financing the Cabora Bassa dam in Mozambique. Students played a big part in the campaign, which asked individuals and organisations to withdraw their accounts. Barclays finally pulled out of South Africa in 1986. 

In 1976 Barclays invested ten million rand in South African defence bonds; it also advertised in South African Defence Force magazines. This poster shows SWAPO refugees killed in SADF raids in Angola and asks ‘Is this how you want to be treated by your first bank?’

In 1976 the AAM publicised Barclays Bank’s purchase of South African defence bonds, issued to help the apartheid government fight SWAPO guerrillas in Namibia. This letter from Prime Minister James Callaghan to AAM Chair Bob Hughes MP acknowledged that public opinion in Britain was opposed to the purchase and promised to raise the matter with Barclays.

Leaflet explaining why the Anti-Apartheid Movement singled out Barclays Bank in its anti-apartheid boycott campaign. As well as owning South Africa’s biggest high street bank, Barclays operated in illegally occupied Namibia and was undermining sanctions against the illegal Smith regime in Rhodesia. The boycott had succeeded in forcing Barclays to sell the £6 million worth of South African defence bonds it had purchased in 1976.

Hull AA Group picketed Barclays Bank in April 1977 as part of the long-running AAM campaign to force Barclays to withdraw from South Africa. Leafleting Barclays customers to persuade them to withdraw their accounts from Barclays was a regular activity for most local anti-apartheid groups during the 1970s and early 1980s. As a result of the campaign, Barclays Bank withdrew from South Africa in 1986.

In 1977 the British government set up the Bingham Inquiry into allegations that Shell and BP had supplied oil to Rhodesia in contravention of UN sanctions. This submission exposed Shell and BP’s sanctions busting operations. It asked the British government to press South Africa to allow international scrutiny of British-owned oil companies in South Africa. 

As the South African economy became less attractive to foreign investors in 1977/78, the AAM stepped up its campaign against British companies with big South African interests. The oil companies BP and Shell were among its main targets. This factsheet showed how the companies’ were helping South Africa develop its energy resources and diversifying into coal and petrochemicals. Other target companies were GEC, ICI, Barclays Bank and British Steel.

Shell and BP were two of South Africa’s main oil suppliers and together owned its biggest oil refinery. After the publication of the first edition of this pamphlet the Bingham Inquiry exposed their complicity in breaking oil sanctions against the illegal Smith regime in Rhodesia. The pamphlet provided a detailed exposé of how the oil companies supported white minority rule throughout Southern Africa. 

Anti-apartheid supporters picketed around 250 branches of Barclays Bank all over Britain on 1 March 1978. The pickets were part of a March month of action against apartheid held to launch the UN International Anti-Apartheid Year. British-owned Barclays Bank was the biggest high street bank in South Africa. After a 16-year campaign by the AAM, Barclays withdrew from South Africa in 1986.

Anti-apartheid supporters picketed around 250 branches of Barclays Bank all over Britain on 1 March 1978. The pickets were part of a March month of action against apartheid held to launch the UN International Anti-Apartheid Year. The photograph shows a protest outside a branch of Barclays in Victoria, central London organised by End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA). British-owned Barclays Bank was the biggest high street bank in South Africa. After a 16-year campaign by the AAM, Barclays withdrew from South Africa in 1986.

The Bingham Inquiry found that British oil companies Shell and BP had supplied oil to Rhodesia in contravention of UN sanctions. This memorandum asked the British government to ensure that the companies restricted oil supplies to South Africa to pre-UDI levels to prevent the re-export of oil to the illegal Smith regime. It called for the extension of sanctions to South Africa unless it gave assurances that it would implement UN sanctions against Rhodesia.

Southampton AA Group supporters delivered a giant Barclays cheque to the local Barclays branch on 4 April 1979. The cheque was made payable ‘for bribery and corruption by the South African Government’ and signed ‘Connie Muldergate’. South African Information Minister Connie Mulder was forced to resign because he established a government slush fund to promote South Africa’s image overseas.

Barclays supported apartheid by lending to the South African government and helping it circumvent the oil embargo. It also had branches in Namibia, illegally occupied by South Africa. This bilingual leaflet was produced for distribution in Wales.

Actor Julie Christie (centre) with Jane Goldsmith of the World University Service and Gerry Gillman, General Secretary of the clerical workers union CPSA, outside the annual general meeting of Barclays Bank in April 1981. They were members of a ‘shadow board’ set up in January 1981 under the chairmanship of Oxford philosopher Michael Dummett to monitor the bank’s activities in Southern Africa. Barclays finally pulled out of South Africa in 1986.

Poster produced for a month of boycott of Shell and BP organised by the AAM in June 1981. Oil was the one major commodity that South Africa did not possess. In the 1970s the chief oil exporting countries imposed an oil embargo on South Africa. This was circumvented by the major Western oil companies, including Shell and BP. The two companies were joint owners of South Africa’s largest oil refinery. 

Oil was the one major commodity that South Africa did not possess. In the 1970s the chief oil exporting countries imposed an oil embargo on South Africa. This was circumvented by the major Western oil companies, including Shell and BP. The two companies were joint owners of South Africa’s largest oil refinery. This leaflet was produced for a special month of boycott of Shell and BP in June 1981. 

This banner saying ‘No Shell-BP Oil for Apartheid’ was suspended from a footbridge in Southampton in June 1981. The action was part of a national Month of Boycott of Shell and BP organised by the AAM. Southampton AA Group members picketed local Shell and BP garages throughout the month. 

Barclays Bank was the biggest bank in South Africa and Namibia. This leaflet set out the many ways in which it supported the apartheid government. Anti-apartheid supporters campaigned for Barclays to withdraw from South Africa and Namibia from 1970 until the bank pulled out in 1986.

Students played a big part in the campaign to force Barclays Bank to withdraw from South Africa. This poster was displayed in student unions to persuade students not to bank with Barclays. By the mid-1980s Barclays share of student accounts had fallen to 17 per cent and this was a big factor in the bank’s decision to withdraw from South Africa in 1986.

A supporter of End Loans to Southern Africa (ELTSA) at a Barclays cashpoint on Victoria Street, central London, 16 June 1985. His P W Botha mask symbolised Barclays Bank’s support for the apartheid regime.

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and Sam McCluskie of the National Union of Seamen joined a picket of the Shell Centre in London in November 1985. Protesters were asking Shell and BP to end their operations in South Africa and Namibia.

Hackney and Tower Hamlets AA Group outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall in east London in 1985. They were protesting outside an exhibition sponsored by Barclays Bank. Barclays was the biggest high street bank in South Africa.

Anti-apartheid supporters in Penzance, Cornwall ask passers-by not to bank with Barclays in February 1986.

In 1981 anti-apartheid campaigners set up a Barclays Shadow Board to monitor the bank’s activities in South Africa. Every year between 1981 and 1986 the Board produced an annual report showing how Barclays was supporting apartheid. This is the Board’s report for 1981. As a result of a 16-year campaign against its operations in Southern Africa Barclays pulled out in 1986.

In 1981 anti-apartheid campaigners set up a Barclays Shadow Board to monitor the bank’s activities in South Africa. Every year between 1981 and 1986 the Board produced an annual report showing how Barclays was supporting apartheid. This is the Board’s report for 1982. As a result of a 16-year campaign against its operations in Southern Africa Barclays pulled out in 1986.

In 1981 anti-apartheid campaigners set up a Barclays Shadow Board to monitor the bank’s activities in South Africa. Every year between 1981 and 1986 the Board produced an annual report showing how Barclays was supporting apartheid. This is the Board’s report for 1983. As a result of a 16-year campaign against its operations in Southern Africa Barclays pulled out in 1986.

In 1981 anti-apartheid campaigners set up a Barclays Shadow Board to monitor the bank’s activities in South Africa. Every year between 1981 and 1986 the Board produced an annual report showing how Barclays was supporting apartheid. This is the Board’s report for 1984. As a result of a 16-year campaign against its operations in Southern Africa Barclays pulled out in 1986.

In 1981 anti-apartheid campaigners set up a Barclays Shadow Board to monitor the bank’s activities in South Africa. Every year between 1981 and 1986 the Board produced an annual report showing how Barclays was supporting apartheid. This is the Board’s report for 1985. As a result of a 16-year campaign against its operations in Southern Africa Barclays pulled out in 1986.

In 1981 anti-apartheid campaigners set up a Barclays Shadow Board to monitor the bank’s activities in South Africa. Every year between 1981 and 1986 the Board produced an annual report showing how Barclays was supporting apartheid. This is the Board’s report for 1986. As a result of a 16-year campaign against its operations in Southern Africa Barclays pulled out later in the year.

Anti-apartheid supporters displayed a ‘Boycott Shell’ banner at the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank on Nelson Mandela’s birthday, 18 July 1986. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries and a lead company in its coalmining and petrochemicals industries.

Barclays Bank operated in Namibia as well as South Africa. This leaflet was distributed during the Free Namibia Week of Action, 25 October–1 November 1986. Shortly after its publication Barclays withdrew from South Africa and Namibia after a long-running campaign by anti-apartheid activists.

Anti-apartheid activists drove a model tank to the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank on 15 November 1986. They were highlighting Shell’s role in supplying fuel for the South African Defence in Namibia. The action was part of an International Day of Action against Shell supported by groups in the USA, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Australia. The AAM launched a total boycott of Shell from 1 March 1987.

Leafletting Barclays Bank customers to persuade them to withdraw their accounts was a regular activity for most local anti-apartheid groups. The leafletting sessions were part of the long-running campaign to persuade Barclays to pull out of South Africa. In the photograph supporters of Tyneside AA Group are asking customers at a Barclays branch in central Newcastle to close their accounts. Later in the same year Barclays withdrew from South Africa.

The AAM hailed Barclays Bank’s withdrawal from South Africa in November 1986 as an important victory in the international sanctions campaign. In this press release it stated that the campaign for Barclays withdrawal was the most sustained action ever undertaken against a major multinational company. But it warned that Barclays would continue to support the apartheid economy by continuing to cooperate with its former banking associate and by helping to restructure South Africa’s international debt. The AAM announced it would move ahead with plans to target other companies still involved in South Africa such as Shell.

An international campaign to force Shell to withdraw from South Africa was launched in 1987 by anti-apartheid organisations in the Netherlands, USA and UK. The AAM called for a boycott of all Shell products and local AA groups picketed Shell garages all over Britain. Shell’s share of the UK petrol market fell by 6.6 per cent. This badge was produced for the campaign.

An international campaign to force Shell to withdraw from South Africa was launched in 1987 by anti-apartheid organisations in the Netherlands, USA and UK. The AAM called for a boycott of all Shell products and local AA groups picketed Shell garages all over Britain. Shell’s share of the UK petrol market fell by 6.6 per cent. This badge was produced for the campaign.

Poster publicising the international campaign to force Shell to withdraw from South Africa launched in 1987 by anti-apartheid organisations in the Netherlands, USA and Britain. The AAM called for a boycott of all Shell products and local AA groups picketed Shell garages all over Britain. Shell lost major contracts with local authorities and its annual general meeting on 11 May 1988 was disrupted by anti-apartheid activists. As a result of the campaign, Shell’s share of the UK petrol market fell by 6.6 per cent.

An international campaign to force Shell to withdraw from South Africa was launched in 1987 by anti-apartheid organisations in the Netherlands, USA and Britain. In Britain the AAM called for a boycott of all Shell products and all over the country local AA groups picketed Shell garages. Shell lost major contracts with local authorities and its AGM on 11 May 1988 was disrupted by anti-apartheid activists. As a result of the campaign, Shell’s share of the UK petrol market fell by nearly 7 per cent.

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.

On 1 March 1987 the AAM launched a boycott of Shell as part of an international campaign organised with groups in the USA and the Netherlands. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries. It was 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 photograph shows members of the local Liberal Party picketing a Shell garage in Hackney, north London.

In March 1987 the AAM launched a campaign for a boycott of Shell products as part of an international campaign to make Shell withdraw from South Africa. This report showed how Shell supported the South African Defence Force and collaborated with the apartheid government’s illegal occupation of Namibia. It was a revised British edition of a report originally produced by Dutch anti-apartheid organisations.

This leaflet advertised a picket of Shell’s London headquarters on 13 May 1987, the eve of the company’s annual general meeting. Over hundred people, including Labour MPs, joined the demonstration, organised by the London Anti-Apartheid Committee. The following day protesters asked questions about Shell’s operations in Southern Africa at the AGM, forcing the directors to abandon the meeting. The action took place during an international week of action on Shell, 11–17 May, when the AAM’s London Committee organised demonstrations outside over 100 Shell garages.

Sheffield AAM picketed a Shell garage as part of an international week of action to force Shell to pull out of South Africa, 11–17 May 1987. All over Britain local anti-apartheid groups picketed Shell garages asking motorists to boycott Shell. The AAM launched its ‘Boycott Shell’ campaign on 1 March. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries. It was a lead company in South Africa’s coalmining and petrochemicals industries.

The leader of Southwark Council in south London, Anne Matthews, joined a picket of a local Shell garage in May 1987. The picket was part of an international week of action, 11–17 May, when the AAM’s London Committee organised demonstrations outside over 100 Shell garages in London. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries. It was a lead company in South Africa’s coalmining and petrochemicals industries. The AAM launched its ‘Boycott Shell’ campaign on 1 March 1987.

Nottingham AA Group supporters picketed a local Shell garage as part of the AAM’s ‘Boycott Shell’ campaign, launched on 1 March 1987. The boycott was part of an international campaign, co-ordinated with groups in the Netherlands and the USA. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries. It was a lead company in South Africa’s coalmining and petrochemicals industries. 

Reading Anti-Apartheid Campaign leaflet asking local people to take action in support of the campaigns for the reprieve of the Sharpeville Six, sentenced to death in South Africa, and the release of trade unionist Moses Mayekiso, one of five people charged with sedition. The leaflet also advertised the Shell boycott and the AAM’s national ‘Sanctions Now!’ demonstration on 24 October 1987.

Shell co-operated with the South African authorities in Namibia, in defiance of the UN termination of South Africa’s mandate. It also supplied fuel for the South African Defence Force in its war against guerrilla fighters from the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) in northern Namibia. This leaflet was distributed during the international Week of Action on Namibia organised by the AAM and Namibia Support Committee, 27 October–3 November 1987.

Members of Halkevi Turkish Community Centre in Hackney, north London, joined a picket of a Shell garage on 8 February 1988. On 1 March 1987 the AAM launched a boycott of Shell as part of an international campaign organised with groups in the USA and the Netherlands. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries and a lead company in its coalmining and petrochemicals industries.

An international campaign to force Shell to withdraw from South Africa was launched in 1987 by anti-apartheid organisations in the Netherlands, USA and Britain. The AAM called for a boycott of all Shell products. These postcards reproduced campaign materials and were designed to be sent to the managers of Shell garages and Shell executives. As a result of the campaign Shell lost major contracts with local authorities. Its share of the UK petrol market fell by nearly 7 per cent.

Hammersmith and Fulham AA Group members held a year-long weekly picket of this Shell garage on Fulham Road in west London. The photograph shows health workers from Charing Cross Hospital at the protest. On 1 March 1987 the AAM launched a boycott of Shell as part of an international campaign organised jointly with groups in the USA and the Netherlands. Shell was joint owner of one of South Africa’s biggest oil refineries and a lead company in its coalmining and petrochemicals industries.

Tyneside AA Group asked spectators to boycott Shell products at Newcastle upon Tyne’s May Day carnival in1989. 

In May 1978 the South African Defence Force massacred over 600 people at a SWAPO refugee camp at Kassinga in Angola. They included 120 children. This leaflet accused Shell of being complicit in the killings because they supplied fuel for the SADF in its operations in Namibia and Angola. The leaflet was distributed on the 11th anniversary of the massacre in 1989.

In January 1987 the AAM launched a campaign for a boycott of Shell products as part of an international campaign to make Shell withdraw from South Africa. This leaflet was published shortly after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. He endorsed the boycott and said that continued economic pressure was necessary to force the apartheid government into negotiations.

Southwark AA Group supporters picketed a Shell garage in South London in 1990. After Nelson Mandela’s release, the AAM kept up its campaign for a boycott of Shell and for sanctions to pressure the South African government to agree a genuinely democratic constitution.

Chris Child became involved in the campaign to make Barclays Bank withdraw from South Africa when he was a student at Durham University. He was an Anti-Apartheid Movement staff member from 1976 to 1982, initially as Trade Union Secretary and later as Deputy Executive Secretary. He was responsible for the AAM’s work with trade unions, the disinvestment campaign, Namibia and liaising with local AA groups.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the Forward to Freedom AAM history project in 2013.

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. 

Anna Kruthoffer (now Anna Murray) first became aware of the Anti-Apartheid Movement when she was a student in the late 1980s. She became an activist in her local AA group in Hackney when she moved to London. She was the secretary of Hackney AA Group and the London AA Committee, which co-ordinated the work of London anti-apartheid groups. In April 1994, she worked in the ANC’s Johannesburg regional office in the run-up to South Africa’s first democratic election.  

In this clip Anna recalls how she was drawn into the Anti-Apartheid Movement, meeting political exiles from South Africa and Namibia and establishing links in the local community.

Anna Kruthoffer (now Anna Murray) first became aware of the Anti-Apartheid Movement when she was a student in the late 1980s. She became an activist in her local AA group in Hackney when she moved to London. She was the secretary of Hackney AA Group and the London AA Committee, which co-ordinated the work of London anti-apartheid groups. In April 1994, she worked in the ANC’s Johannesburg regional office in the run-up to South Africa’s first democratic election.  

In this clip Anna describes how she attended Shell’s annual general meeting to protest about the company’s involvement in Southern Africa.

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).

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the ‘Forward to Freedom’ AAM history project in 2013.

Mike Pye was a Sheffield Labour Councillor from 1984 to 2010. As lead spokesperson on anti-apartheid issues, he steered through the Council policies on boycotting South African goods and barring artists who had performed in South Africa from Sheffield City Hall. He helped set up Local Authorities Against Apartheid (LAAA) and chaired its National Steering Committee from 1984 to 1994.

In this clip Mike Pye explains how Sheffield City Council used a section of the Local Government Act that called on local authorities to foster good race relations as legal justification for not awarding a contract to Shell.

Simon Korner was Secretary and then Chair of Hackney AA Group from about 1986 to 1994. The group organised a weekly stall outside Sainsbury’s in Dalston and a regular picket of the local Shell garage in Clapton. It put on major fundraising shows at the Hackney Empire, featuring artists like Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard and the Pogues. Simon was a member of the London Anti-Apartheid Committee, and organised political dayschools and a mass picket of Shell HQ.

This is a complete transcript of an interview carried out as part of the ‘Forward to Freedom’ AAM history project in 2013.

Paul Blomfield set up Sheffield Anti-Apartheid Group in 1978 and served as its Secretary until the early 1990s. In 1976 he visited South Africa after the Soweto school students uprising at the request of the ANC. His report of the visit is on this website (stu25. IUS Solidarity Mission Report). He is now the Labour MP for Sheffield Central.

In this clip Paul Blomfield describes how Sheffield AA Group organised a city-wide campaign to pressure Barclays Bank into withdrawing from South Africa.

Christabel Gurney was active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1969 to 1994. She joined the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the late 1960s and took part in demonstrations against the Springbok rugby and cricket tours in 1969-70. She was Secretary of the Dambusters Mobilising Committee, which gave rise to the campaign to persuade Barclays Bank to pull out of South Africa.  She edited the AAM’s monthly newspaper Anti-Apartheid News in the 1970s and was later secretary of Notting Hill Anti-Apartheid Group. More recently she has researched and written about the history of the AAM. 

In this clip she recalls how activists protested at Barclays Bank’s annual general meeting in 1972.