In response to an appeal by Albert Luthuli, the Boycott Movement was founded in London on 26 June 1959 at a meeting of South African exiles and their supporters.
Speakers at the rally included Labour Party Leader Hugh Gaitskell, Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe, Conservative peer John Grigg, 2nd Baron Altrincham, and Tennyson Makiwane of the African National Congress.
In 1962, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on all member states to impose a trade boycott against South Africa.
In the same year, he presented a letter to the International Olympic Committee meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany about racism in South African sports.
According to Lisson, "The aim of the Conference was to work out the practicability of economic sanctions and their implications on the economies of South Africa, the UK, the US and the Protectorates.
Its findings also pointed out that in order to be effective, a programme of sanctions would need the active participation of Britain and the US, who were also the main obstacle to the implementation of such a policy.
[6] A part of the declaration: Academic Boycott of South Africa: Declaration by British Academics, 1965 We, the (undersigned) professors and lecturers in British universities in consultation with the Anti-Apartheid Movement: Faced with the failure to persuade the West to impose economic sanctions, in 1966 the AAM formulated a strategy whereby they would shift toward spearheading "an international campaign against apartheid under the auspices of the United Nations.
The man originally responsible for the new strategy gives this summary: The strategy was to press for a range of measures to isolate the regime, support the liberation movement and inform world public opinion; to continue pressing for effective sanctions as the only means for a peaceful solution, and at the same time to obtain action on other measures which could be decided by a majority vote in the General Assembly; to isolate the major trading partners of South Africa by persuading other Western countries to co-operate in action to the greatest feasible extent; and to find ways to promote public opinion and public action against apartheid, especially in the countries which were the main collaborators with the South African regime.
In close co-operation with the exiled leaders of the ANC, the British Anti-Apartheid Movement increasingly personalised the liberation struggle, with Mandela as its symbolic figurehead.
[8] The Anti-Apartheid Movement worked with a range of organisations in Britain, such as the International Defence and Aid Fund, local council authorities, churches, and trade unions, to demand Mandela's release from prison and campaign for the end of apartheid in South Africa.
[citation needed] A major part of the campaign revolved around music, which helped publicise Mandela and the anti-apartheid struggle to the British public.
[13] The AAM was composed of a national office, local groups, and regional committees, as well as a wide range of affiliations to organisations across civil society.
The AAM’s national office was based in London, which was the centre of the movements decision making, where policies were devised, campaigns organised (such as Boycott Barclays or Free Nelson Mandela), and the high-level lobbying of politicians and business leaders occurred.
It also allowed the general public multiple opportunities to take individual actions against apartheid through local efforts such as picketing shops and venues.
There existed a huge variety and diversity in anti-apartheid campaigning across Britain, which reflected local economic, cultural, and social conditions.
For the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Nelson Mandela's release was a moment of celebration, but it also started an enormously challenging period in which they struggled to maintain the momentum of the 1980s, and sustain public interest in South Africa.
Historians Matt Graham and Christopher Fevre have argued that South Africa's transition proved to be the most challenging period in the Anti-Apartheid Movement's existence due to a decline in public interest, a reduction of its membership base, questions about its long-term future as an organisation, a poor financial situation, and the difficulty of explaining the fast-paced negotiations and the political violence to the British public.
These activities were part of the international support provided for the ANC's victory in South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994.