the Anti-Apartheid Movement the Anti-Apartheid Movement 89 Charlotte Street London WIP 2DQ Tel 580 5311 MINUTES OF NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING Saturday 4 March 1972 : 15 Gordon Street WCI PRESENT: Bishop Reeves (Chairman), Paul Blomfield (York AA), Ursula Brown, Wilfred Brutus (Barnet AA), Sonia Bunting, Bob Cant, Sam Chatterjee, Chris Cornwall, Joan Darling (Hampstead AA), Sarah Darling, Caroline de Crespigny, Ethel de Keyser, John Ennals, Paul Fauvet, Ruth First, Polly Gaster (CFMAG), Christabel Gurney, Ruth Harrison, marcia Heinamann, Rice Hodgson (D&A), Peter Jones, Frank Judd MP, Peter Katjavivi (SWAPO), Abdul Minty, Patricia Moberley, Jean Middleton, Betty Northedge (West London AA), Tony O'Dowd, Vella Pillay, Dorothy Robinson, Roger Trask, Mary Turok (SACTU), Nancy White, Jack Woddis. APOLOGIES: Joan Lestor MP, David Steel MP., Trevor Huddleston (Bishop of Stepney), Mike Gerrard, Jack Halpern, Connie mager (mid-Sussex AAC), Terry Trench (Rep. of ACTT), Dr. L. K-essel (Rep. of Communist Party), John Sprack, Roger Currell (Mid-Harts Anti-Racialist Group), Africa Bureau. 1) PINUTES OF MEETING OF 7 DECEMBER 1971 Agreed. 2) MATTERS ARISING (a) Item 2(b) Cultural Boycott: Ethel de Keyser reported that since the last meeting it had been ascertained that television in South Africa would be segregated and that ACTT and Equity were being approached to insert a clause in future contracts saying that artists and technicians would not allow their work to be sold for use on South African television. She further reported that an African group would be taking pert in the World Theatre Season at the Aldwych, presemting mbatha - a play based on macbeth; the money which had enabled it to take part had been partly put up by the South African Government, and she felt though there should be no public demonstration that we should stick to our agreed policy ef boycott if approached by the press in regard to this. After discussion this was agreed. (b) Item 2(d) Architects and Town Planners: Ethel de Keyser reported that RIBA in response to a request had decided to send out a representative to South Africa to assist in overseeing exams, etc. One architect member of the committee felt that we should approach Prof. Hinton who is to go and ask him to look into facilities available to Africans, Coloureds and Indians for studying architecture, and that we should not proceed until his return. (c) Item 6 Political Prisoners: Sonia Bunting reported the question of 3 Robben Island prisoners being placed in solitary confinement had been taken up with the ICJ, Red Cross and other organisations, asking them to make representations and protest to the South African Government. Publicity for this had been obtained in THE TIMES and following this report Pelser had denied it. We now have information that one of the three is no longer in solitary confinement and it is assumed that the other two were also in the same position. An international mailing was being sent out and would include information on Rhodesia and Namibia and also the treatment of guerilla fighters who are captured, who are treated as civilians and tried as such. A Red Cross Conference is to take place in Geneva in May to discuss the up-dating of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war, and she felt that we should press that guerilla fighters should be treated as prisoners of war. The South African Government would be taking part, and it was important that the AAM be present, if not officially then at least to lobby. Various demonstrations were planned for Sharpeville, one of which will be on political prisoners outside South Africa House from 12.45 to 2.15pm. On the Geneva Conference in May., Abdul Minty said the movement had been invited to attend one of, the preparatory conferences and that we would therefore be receiving the documents for the conference. It was agreed that we should consult with the liberation movements before making any recommendations to the Conference.

National ommitt e 4 March (d)Item4SouthernAfricaEducationProject: ar 1Y i dthat theUNGeneralAssembly'h as&ePs iqisport4 f theProject A and that a decision was awaited from UNESCO which had been instructed by the General Assembly to produce the kit. 25 schools in Britain had been circulated with the pilot scheme and we were in touch with people in Ireland to get it started there; a copy1had al .. gone to Uganda.- John Ennals said that we must bring pressure to bear nn UNESCO and it wes agreed that he should pbcne the Assistont General Secretary about it. The Chairman axpressed the gratitude of the National Committee to the Education# Project Committee, 3) RHODESIA CAMPAIGN de Keyser (a) ReCent Activities; Ethei/roported that following the decision at the lest Nationsl Committee mc.ting, amostiog of a wide spectrum of organi8ations, political. parties, trade unions, youth and church groups was called otn29 December! Attendance far exceeded expectations; it was 6 useful meeting and the Rhodesia Emergency Campaign Committee'was set up under the joiht chairmanship of Colin Morris and Stuaft Hall, to work speifically on the demonstratio opp 13 February. A number of demonstrations were organised leading up to that date, and about 100 meetings were sevicL with speakers in the six weekp before the rally. -Regarding Bishop Tdzoreaa's visit, w had asked for someone-'to come from Zimbabwe and it war decided'in Zi.mbabte that the Bishop himself shoutld come. It was his committee's decision that he should come and that his visit should last for ten days. Wa,were responsible fpr coordinating his visit, which went off vary well. The rally was good, Iih" a substantial turn-out and a good line-up of speakers, followed by th s march on Rhodesia House where there had bean a number of arrests. The Chairman added that he had represented the Mnvement on as deputation to the Foreign Secretary of a number of C grchmen. It had been strictly off- the record so he could not report what had taken place, except that they had spent an hour with. him and their discussion had been wide-ranging, despite the rather limited terms of reference. (b) Reports from AA Cnmmittees: Roger Blomfield from York said that in the buildup" to the' February 13 defnistre'tin' they. had been efletting, collecting signature for the petition, etc., along with UNA Yoth and student groueps. A meeting had been held in York- and at the Univer ity. They had been "ti lng to build uq , contacts wit,, groups other than students. Betty Northedga .from West Loniov said that they had concentrated their. efforts on getting people to the demonstration inm London since they were so nar. Joan Darlin9 from Hempstead said they had been concentrating on getting, signatu m to the petition, response to which had-been overwhelming. They had been selling the newspaper and lafletting; and literature sales were high. Roger Trask said that there had been activities on Rhodesia in most lodnl area~s, end there was a big me'eting in Edinburgh today at which John Sprark wa representing the -ovement. He said he had been asked by Connie fager of the Mid-Sussex Committee to report on the boycottwhich they had initiate5 d in the Brighton Co-op Society and for which they needed support in th erato ensure that' it was implemented. Also, i Welee there was opposition to .he planned tour of Rhodaesir by the Llanelli Rugby Football team in June, and the Labour Couicil had formally opposed the tour. At this point the Chairman welcomed Ambasador Fearah of Somalia to the meeting and asked him to address these present. Ambassador Fahra, ho ls- Somalia's pe manent representative at the UN, -a member of the Security Council 'ad Chairmen of the UN Committee on Apartheid, spoke about the role of the UN on Southern Africa and the recent meeting of the Se.-trity Council in Addie Ababa, and-stresmed the need for idesS and information from the Movement to essist the Sec'urity Council in its stork on Southern Africa. Following the Ambassador's talk, the- Chairman asked Ab.dul Minty to report on the Security eCouncilmeeting in Addis Ababa, which he had ttetnded on behalf ofV Canoh Colline and where he made representations on behalf of the AA. :He repbrted t.at the first few days of the meet-ing had' been taekn up by speeches frq the gove rument re4presentatives; three resolutions had been tabled - on South ArcRhodesia and Namibia - endthr awendiscussiononthe Portugese colonies. He had been dist~urbed b~y the resolution on Namibia, whicph had reulted in an agreement that the, Secretary-Ceneral should go to South Africa, because it gave the impression that there were dfaetby of dealing with the problem. He said that we should be thinking of the ole of the UN in terms of Southern Africa; what we would get out of the UN system that would help the liberation struggle and the work of the Movement; and

National Committee 4 march 1972 . that we should come up with two or three points to put to the UN for consideration. He went on to say that the UN Committee on Apartheid were holding a seminar in March, he had been asked to go to a different meeting in Wshington a few days laterand Ambassador Farah had asked him to cbme earlier to take pert in the Committee's meeting in New York. He had alsb been asked to appear before the, Committee of 24. He spoke of a dangerous trend noticeable at the meeting he had just attended in Germany on the Cunene River Scheme: several people who had supported the movement's stand on the isolation of Southern Africa in the past were now moving towards the positions of the "Polaroid Experiment" and "Dialogue", and he suggested a meeting to discuss this matter, Polly Gaster formally proposed that we should call a meeting to deal with this question, and it was agreed that the Executive be asked to plan such a meeting following Abdul minty's return from Washington, in early April. (c)'Future of the Rhodesia Emergency Campaign Committee: Vella Pillay reported" that the EC had met following the demonstration and had discussed the question of the campaign and how it would proceed in terms of continuing activities. He and Abdul rlinty had prepared a draft statement of. policy, which ha read to the meeting. The EC had-agreed that a meeting of the RECE should be called as soon as possible following this NC meeting, to report back, to give z financial statement, and to propose future activities. It was felt that the Committee should not become a bureaucratic organisation but that it should be called upon when necessary and that the AAf should remain the continuing organisation. He asked for comments on the draft statement. Jack Woddis suggested that it should include a note about the courage of the people of Zimbabwe 'in their opposition to the sell-out proposals, and Ethel de Keyser felt that it should also note-.South Africa's role. Polly Gaster said that she found it difficult to comment without having seen the statement, and it was agreed that it should be sent out immediately with the minutes and members asked to phone in any gomments, additions, alterations they may have by return. Vella Pillay then went on to say that proposals had been-madetbat there should be a constant vigil outside the venue where the Pearce Commission would be holding hearings when it returned to London; that leaflets contaming the points in the statement be distributed; that a literature stall be set up near the vigil, that a demonstration" should be calleLd when the Pearce Commission reported. Christabal (Wrney sugQested a picket of Tate and Lyle's AGM because the Chairman had said that he welcomed the settlement proposals. Joan Darling asked about the petitions, and Ethel de Keyser said they were to be presented on 21 march, Sharpeville Day, when there would also be demonstrattions outside Rhodesia House, South Africa House and the RTZ offices because of their involvement in Namibia, after which the petitions would be presented to Downing Street by a group of well-known personalities. 4) NAMIBIA Polly Gaster reported on the, onference in-Germany on the Cunene River Scheme, which had been called by the World Council of Churches and which had been attended by church groups.and activist groups from all over the world. It had been agreed that the Scheme must be seen as part of the whole political/military/ec~nomic strategy of Southern Africa and of the western alliance, and within that context that action must be taken. Action proposed - to prevent the completion of the scheme, to support the liberation movement, and to attack the firms involved in the scheme, and those Chich may be involved in the future. It was also proposed to attack fims with specific links with Namibie, Portugil and the EEC, and the increasing military links of South Africa and Portugal with the West. Polly Caster also reported that the Portuguese Foreign Minister was visiting London next week and several demonstrations were planned - on Tuesday at 3.45at the Foreign Office, and at 7.45 at Lancaster House; on Wqdnesday at 3.30 at Downing Street, 4.15 at the Dept of Trade, at 5.30 at the Ministry of Defence. She asked for the full cooperation of the AAM in these demonstrations.

~A ,LtL...4 . J (a) Namibia - Action Taken: Roger Trask reported thata picket had been held at South Africa House early in January in support of the strike. A number of unions had been approached to declare support and he particularly mentioned;that the NUM had done so just after their own strike had begun. The TUC had alo passed 'a message of solidarity. Articles had appeared in the.notion- press and gereral publicity had been sought. A number of meetings had been prrangedc around the country. A letter had been circulated to trade union general secretaries for their signatures and publication in THETIffiES. 13 hadsigned but for some reason unknown THE TIMES had not printed it. It had therefore been recirculated for publication in THE GUARDIAN end so far -8general .secretaries had signed. A fufnd had been set up and it wes hoped to get poublicity for this and support from the trade un~ons. Peter Katjavivi said that he was disturbed by the many references to the strike in Namibia as an "Dvambo :strike" and he stressed that this was ndt the case, that it involved all the people of Namibia end that what was happening now was a very important development in the struggle for Namibia. (b) SUJAPO Conference in Brssels:~ Peter Ka'tjavivi said' that this was-,an' important Conference to publicise the Namibian struggle internationally. The initial planning meeting was able to work out the strategy of the Conference, and the agenda and other paper were being prepared. He asked for the full support of the AAI in promoting the Bruasels Conference, which washe'ing held to expose the links South Africa has with the 4western world. Also the problem of Namibia was not known and it was necessary to recftify this. - He had been much encouraged by the response of the African governments, whose Ambassadors in Brussels had taken part in the preparatory conference,. Ethel de Keyser read the appeal put out by the 'preparatory conference, and John Ennals moved thqt we endorse the appeal and offer the full assistance of the Movement, and that the Movement be. fully represented at the Conference in Mlay. This was agreed. Vella Pila'l' suggested a meeting between the Executive and other National Committee members with StAPO to discuss what SWAPO want to come out of the Conferene. This was also kud 5) FINANCE AND FUND RAISING. Tony O'Dbwd reported that the Rowntree Trust had acceded to our requ@est for a grant-ond is to give us 93,O00. It was hoped that this would be repeated in future year;s. The financial position was reasonable - about £L1,600 in the bank, but some of this money belonged to the RECC account, the use of which would have to be discussed at the next REGC meeting. On fund-raising, nothing major was planned for the immediate future although there were two, events coming up later in the year. The Chairman said that he hoped the Committee would realise that our needs continued to be graater than our resources and that we should not relax our efforts to raise money. 6) ANY I3HER BUSINESS (a) Trade Union Conference: Roger Trask reported that this would take place on 18/19 ilarch at Plaw Hatch Trade Union Country Club. it would be discussing the political situation in Southern Africa and trade union action in this country. Attendance so far was not am godd as hoped but there was still time and several letters were still outstanding. Mary Turok said that SACTU felt the area of the Conference was too wide end that it should concentrate on conditions of workers in South Africa. Roger Trask said that- Johntaetsewe had discussed this with the Trade Union Group and as a result of the discussions the programme had been a-ltered. A lot of emphasis wae being plac-ed on this question but it had been felt that there was a close connection between the political situation in Southern Africa and action by trade unionists in this country. (b) mid-Herts Anti-Racialist Group: Ethel de Keyser reported that the lGroup were planning street theatre activity on political prisonersp outside South Africa House, and abked for assistance. She suggested/that we ask that this be don'e orSharpevill& Day, They ha'd 'adpted' Father.losma Deemond, (c) Frank Judd said he was concerned by the ,leck of preasure on Parliameent from" local centres, and asked that local branches be approached to raise Southern African issues with their MPs. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 14 June 1972, 6.30 pm, House of Commons SWI.