The Anti Apartheid Movement in Scotland

Action for Southern Africa, Scotland (ACTSA Scotland)
ACTSA Scotland was formed in December 1994 as the Scottish Section of the national organisation Action for Southern Africa and works to develop solidarity between Scotland and all the states of the Southern African Development Community. As the successor organisation to the Scottish Anti-Apartheid Movement its closest links are with South Africa and in particular with the Eastern Cape Province with which Scotland has had a particularly long historic connection. 

The African National Congress (ANC)
The ANC is a national liberation movement.  It was formed in 1912 to unite the African people and spearhead the struggle for fundamental political, social and economic change.  This web site also has a section on the Anti Apartheid and Solidarity Movements including a section on the British movement.

The Anti Apartheid Movement Archive (University of Oxford)
The Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House (formerly known as Rhodes House Library), was opened in 1929. It is the part of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, that specialises in the history and current affairs - political, economic and social - of the Commonwealth and sub-Saharan Africa including the offshore islands  The Archive of the British Anti Apartheid Movement and is housed here and this link will take you to the archive's online catalogue.

Black History 4 Schools
This website includes downloadable teaching materials to facilitate debate and discussion about teaching Black and Asian British history.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU)
The Congress of South African Trade Unions was founded in 1985. Since then COSATU has been in the forefront of the struggle for democracy and workers' rights.

Digital Imaging Project of South Africa
Includes approximately thirty-nine periodical titles which have been selected from a very comprehensive list, with a view to presenting not only a wide spectrum of political views published during these years, but also a diversity of subjects such as trade unions, religion, health, culture, and gender.  Publications reflecting both black and white viewpoints are included, and an attempt has been made to represent distinctive regional variations. Some of the publications were short-lived and, by necessity, of limited distribution.  These factors lend a certain rarity value in that the publications are generally not well represented in research collections.

The George H Johannes Collection (Glasgow Caledonian University)
A collection also housed at Glasgow Caledonian University.  George Johannes joined the African National Congress in 1970, and has worked with the ANC as a full-time political activist since 1976 in a variety of roles.

The Meryvn Bennun Collection (University of Exeter)
Mervyn Bennun, former lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Exeter, was active in the UK during the ANC's period of exile and he amassed a rich collection of material. To this generous gift of Mr Bennun's has been added the smaller collection of the records and memorabilia of the Exeter Anti-Apartheid Group, which was one of the longest established and most active in the UK Anti-Apartheid Movement.

The South African Communist Party (SACP)
The South African Communist Party was founded in 1921 and has always been in the forefront of the struggle against imperialism and racist domination. The SACP is a partner in the Tripartite Alliance consisting of the ANC and the COSATU (see above).

The South African High Commission UK (London)
This web site gives information on services from South Africa House and links to the latest news and events on South Africa from the UK.

South African History Archive (SAHA)
The South African History Archive is an independent archive dedicated to documenting and supporting the struggles for justice in South Africa.  SAHA has always been politically non-aligned and committed to collecting material from organisations and individuals across the political spectrum. Its founding mission was to strive to recapture lost and neglected history and to record history in the making.

World Council of Churches (WCC) Archives
Within the WCC Archives, the Programme to Combat Racism section has an interesting series about Apartheid in South Africa.

Time Out (London) - Looking back on the Anti Apartheid Movement (August 2007)
It's nearly half a century since the Anti-Apartheid Movement was born in London. With a new statue of Nelson Mandela about to be unveiled in Parliament Square, Time Out speaks to some of the key figures who were at the forefront of the battle for his release and the overthrow of white South Africa's reviled regime.

Last Updated: 12 February, 2009
Edited by: webteam@gcal.ac.uk