THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST BRITISH BANK INVOLVEMENT IN APARTHEID SOUTHAFRICA

Abstract

The British ‘banks campaign’ was part of the international pressure to implement financial sanctions against apartheid South Africa. South Africa was vulnerable to a ‘banks campaign’ because of its dependence on foreign investment and, from the 1970s, on loan capital in particular. Britain was the most important source of foreign capital to South Africa, and was home to the parent companies of South Africa's two largest banks. The campaign urged complete disengagement of British banks from South Africa: withdrawal by those banks with direct operations and a moratorium on lending. Both these goals were eventually achieved. Despite the wealth of scholarship in ‘apartheid history’ surprisingly no comprehensive study has been made of the British anti-apartheid movement (although it was one of the most influential national movements), let alone of this specific campaign. This article relies heavily on primary documentation, (pamphlets, reports and newspapers) and personal interviews with the individuals involved, to establish the chronology of the British ‘banks campaign’ for the first time.