Faith organisations

This pamphlet set out the case for international sanctions against South Africa. It was published as a follow-up to a resolution passed by the General Council of the Student Christian Movement in September 1964 asking the UK and Irish governments to support a UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against South Africa. The SCM had a wide membership among students in the mid-1960s and worked closely with the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

The Consultation on Racism held in Notting Hill, London, 19–24 May 1969 led to the setting up of the WCC’s Programme to Combat Racism (PCR). The consultation concluded that force could be used to combat racism in situations where non-violent political strategies had failed. The PCR gave grants for humanitarian use to the Southern African liberation movements and other anti-apartheid organisations, including the AAM. In the centre of the photograph are the Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and Trevor Huddleston.

Trevor Huddleston, then Bishop of Stepney, London, and ANC president Oliver Tambo at the World Council of Churches Consultation on Racism, held in Notting Hill, London, 19–24 May 1969. The consultation concluded that force could be used to combat racism in situations where non-violent political strategies had failed. The PCR gave grants for humanitarian purposes to the Southern African liberation movements and other anti-apartheid organisations, including the AAM.

This report showed how the British company GEC supplied the South African Defence Force with sophisticated technology and worked closely with South African state corporations. It estimated that 40–50% of the black workers employed by GEC’s South African subsidiaries were paid below the minimum level recommended by the British government’s Code of Conduct for British corporations operating in South Africa. Christian Concern for Southern Africa (CCSA) was set up in 1972 to research and publicise the role played by British companies in South Africa. Its reports were widely distributed by the AAM.

Through its subsidiary company African Explosives and Chemical Industries (AECI) the British chemicals giant ICI had interests in South Africa dating back to the development of the gold mines in the 19th century. This report showed how AECI worked closely with the apartheid government and operated a strict colour bar in its South African operations. Christian Concern for Southern Africa (CCSA) was set up in 1972 to research and publicise the role played by British companies in South Africa. Its reports were widely distributed by the AAM.

This report provided a comprehensive analysis of the involvement of British banks in South Africa in the 1970s. It concluded that the banks’ operations did more to sustain apartheid than to erode it. It recommended that British banks should terminate export credits and halt loans to South Africa, and called for a debate on the issue within the British churches. Christian Concern for Southern Africa (CCSA) was set up in 1972 to research and publicise the role played by British companies in South Africa. Its reports were widely distributed by the AAM.

This leaflet set out the policies of the various Christian denominations in Britain towards investment in South Africa. It asked church people to press for progressive disengagement. The leaflet was produced by the British Council of Churches and Christian Concern for Southern Africa (CCSA), a group that worked closely with the AAM.

This Declaration was made by an Inter-Faith Colloquium on Apartheid organised by the AAM’s President, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, in March 1984. The Colloquium led to the setting up of the AAM’s Multi-Faith Committee, which held its first meeting at the Central Gurdwara in London at the beginning of 1985.