Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.26.5
Object Name
poster
Title
'This is apartheid don't buy it. Boycott South African goods. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions'
Place
South Africa, UK
People
Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
Events
South African apartheid regime 1948-1994
Description
A white poster with black and orange text which reads: 'This is apartheid don't buy it. Boycott South African goods. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions'. The central image is a colour painting of a silver can of food, a green apple and an orange. All three are bleeding from bullet wounds.
This poster was designed by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to urge shoppers not to buy goods that were produced in South Africa during the apartheid regime. Apartheid is a system of institutionalised racial segregation that ensured that the country was dominated politically, socially and economically by the minority white population.
The anti-apartheid movement began as the Boycott Movement in 1959, when Black South Africans asked British people not to buy South African goods. The boycott gained widespread support from students, trade unions, and the Labour, Liberal and Communist parties. Following the 1960 Sharpsville massacre when 69 unarmed anti-apartheid protestors were shot dead by South African police, the movement expanded beyond economic boycotts. The main umbrella organisation for anti-apartheid organising was renamed the 'Anti-Apartheid Movement' (AAM). The bleeding on the poster may evoke the violence done to Black South Africans during the massacre, but it may also be a broader expression of the violence inherent in the apartheid system, as Sharpesville was not an isolated incident. The AAM led protests and vigils, including a 72-hour vigil outside the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1961 that led to South Africa being expelled from the Commonwealth of former British colonies. The AAM was also instrumental in revealing racism in South African sports, which resulted in the suspension and eventual expulsion of South Africa from the Olympics. They continued to urge for boycotts, aiming to lead to economic sanctions, but this aim was never realised. The AAM grew into the biggest British pressure group on an international issue. The AAM operated until 1994, when South Africa held their first democratic elections.
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