South African Anti-Apartheid to Palestinian Solidarity: Bristol’s Boycott Gene
By Isaac Glasman, 2nd Year History
Bristol is currently one of the centres for Pro-Palestinian support. Whether as a hub for Green Party support or for large student-advocacy groups. Some might argue the strength of advocacy is only due to the youthful population, and the disproportionate student make up of the city. However, by looking at an earlier movement and its legacy we can better understand why Bristol is so mobilised on this issue.
In St Pauls, Bristol, in the mid-1980s, there was a flourishing grassroots anti-apartheid movement, creating one of the most effective local boycott campaigns the country had seen. By the end of the campaign all local shops had joined in boycotting South African goods, and any major business that refused to comply was picketted until they fell in line, or were forced to close their doors.
Now this wasn’t just a local movement, but rather part of a large trans-national movement. Anti-Apartheid sentiment had been growing in Britain over the years after the arrest of, at the time, South African Revolutionary and activist Nelson Mandela. There had been a significant Anti-Apartheid campaign in the U.K, initially set up by South African Exiles such as Mandela, and Vella Pillay and continued with figures such as Ruth and Joe Slovo in the 60s, creating an economic and cultural campaign of boycott. By the 1980s it had broken the political sphere and crashed into mainstream culture. ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ by the Specials had come out in the 1984 (peaked at no.9 on the UK Singles Chart), and arguably culminated in the 1988 70th Birthday Tribute in Wembley Stadium, with performers such as Stevie Wonder, The Bee Gees and the aforementioned Specials in tandem with speakers like Neil Kinnock, who at the time was leader of the Labour Party. All these figures, gathered for a singular purpose, and that being for the freedom of Nelson Mandela in front of 250,000 attendees.
Now this mass support was obviously valuable political currency, but it would not have meant half of much without meaningful change and support. The demands of the Anti-Apartheid Movement were summarised by Julius Nyerere when he said ‘We are not asking you, the British people, for anything special. We are just asking you to withdraw your support from apartheid by not buying South African goods’. The movement would not have amounted to much if it culminated in a 250,000 person concert, yet still 10% of Bristol Dock’s goods were being imported from South Africa.
This is where the local movement comes in, and figures such as Kuombo Balungun (a local labour politician), Ron Press and Mark Sweet (who were both South African exiles/nationals living in Bristol), and Dave Spurgeon (leader of the Bristol Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1989). Here starting in 1985, shortly after Nelson Mandela became a central figure in British popular culture, and about 25 years after the establishment of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Bristol’s crowning achievement as part of the national organisation was formed. The Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ). Here starting in St Pauls, the organisation lobbied every businesses to stop stocking all South African goods. It started locally, with small shops where rapidly almost all shops agreed to cease commerce with South African goods. They persuaded the first Tesco, in Eastville, to stop stocking South African goods, and contributed significantly in the Co-op’s national boycott of Apartheid goods. If places did not comply, they organised mass protests and pickets, leading to the shutting down of a Barclays justified by its financial entanglement with the Apartheid regime.
Part of the reason the campaign was so successful was in no small part due to the makeup of where they were operating. St Pauls was a very working class, and black area. This is represented by figures such as the aforementioned Kuombo Balungun. Part of the Labour Black Sections, a serious community figurehead, responsible for renovating the now named Malcom X Community Centre. His status in both the local community and politics helped secure £700 in funding from the council for the newsletter But he also represents some of the challenges the organisation and movement faced. Perceived, and sometimes legitimate radicalism.
The Anti-Apartheid Movement in Bristol was seemingly very deliberate in it’s lack of politics. It’s manifesto, which can be found in the Bristol Archives, makes no reference to any wider movements, any wider cause, not even an end to colonialism in Africa. Simply 4 Aims:
‘
To inform the people of Bristol and the surrounding area about apartheid and what it means for the people of Southern Africa
To campaign for local, national and international action to help bring the system of apartheid to an end.
To support Southern African organisations campaigning against Apartheid
To affiliate to and co-operate with the Anti-Apartheid Movement.’
Now individually many people were part of broader internationalist or socialist campaigns. This is reflected by even Kuombo Balungun, who had strong links with Sinn Fein during the troubles, viewing these as connected issues in the international struggle against colonialism. The issues arose however when in 1990 Kuombo Balungun made a ‘plea’ for the IRA to provide military assistance to South Africa, the same way Colonel Gaddafi was doing. This drew even parliamentary questioning and his expulsion from the labour party was demanded by Conservative MP’s.
This kind of reaction was the potential reasoning for the organisation’s restraint. They avoided engaging with other issues, both to avoid drawing unwanted attention and to broaden their potential base. They needed all hands-on board, and so couldn’t afford to alienate those who did not want to be considered a socialist, or a pan-africanist etc.
This did however lead to one significant consequence. After the first free and democratic elections that took place in Southern Africa (ACTSA), the movement lost speed. It rebranded as Action for South Africa, however there was not too much of note for the organisation after this point. Being a single-issue advocacy organisation gives clear organising focus, but when that issue is perceived as resolved, it is incredibly difficult to mobilise your base again.
Its legacy may not be in ACTSA but rather in organising around a different but parallel issue.
Bristol Apartheid Free Zone (BAFZ) is a grassroots campaign, sprouting out over the last few years as Palestinian advocacy has gained prominence around the West. Directly modelled after the Anti-Apartheid Movement it has been organising boycotting of Israeli goods in St. Pauls and Easton. 64 Vendors and 3761 residents have agreed to respect the boycott.
Here we can see that Bristol’s advocacy around trans-national social issues is not some modern phenomena, but rather is borne out of a rich history of grassroots campaigning.