Birmingham Anti-Apartheid Movement

It is unclear exactly when Birmingham Anti-Apartheid, a branch of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, was formed but its archives contain records dating back to 1966. As one of South Africa's major trading partners, one of the main means of protest in Britain was through economic channels. A 1984 campaign in Birmingham called for consumers to boycott goods from South Africa. Following on from this campaign, Birmingham Anti-Apartheid began to try and push for the wards of Handsworth and Lozells to become an 'apartheid free-zone', with none of the shops selling produce from South Africa. This followed on from a similar successful campaign in Bristol. At a meeting to address this issue, the secretary of Birmingham Anti-Apartheid made a speech in support of the campaign: Another important campaign Birmingham Anti-Apartheid became involved in was that of 'twinning' regional anti-apartheid groups with regional ANC groups in South Africa. Started in 1991 by the British Anti-Apartheid Movement as a way of forging links between the two bodies on a more local level, Birmingham Anti-Apartheid was twinned with the Western Transvaal ANC. The Anti-Apartheid Movement continued to operate in Britain until 1994. Following the first truly democratic elections in South Africa, and the dismantling of apartheid, the organization changed its name to Action for South Africa (ACTSA). A Birmingham branch was formed, and continues to operate today.