The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was formed in 1959 and continued to campaign until the fall of the South African Apartheid regime in 1995, when it was disbanded and succeeded by a group called Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA).
It was spied upon from the inception of the Special Demonstration Squad by HN330HN331HN331 was an undercover officer in the SDS who infiltrated the Notting Hill and Earl’s Court branches of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign between August and December 1968, as well as two meetings of LSE students in the run up to the 27 October 1968 anti-Vietnam war demonstration. He died in a road traffic accident in the 1970s and his cover name has been lost. HN331’s real name was restricted by Inquiry Chair John Mitting.Full page: HN331
, HN135 Mike FergusonHN135 Michael 'Mike' FergusonMichael (Mike) Ferguson started as an undercover officer in March 1969 with HN336 ‘Dick Epps’. He infiltrated the Maoist Britain Vietnam Solidarity Front, the Islington branch of the Irish Civil Rights Solidarity Campaign and the Stop The Seventy Tour. His deployment ended in July 1970. Ferguson would return in the late 1970s to lead the SDS for a couple of years. He retired in 1985 and died in 1999 at the age of 60.
, HN298 'Michael Scott'HN298 'Michael Scott'‘Michael Scott’ is the assumed name of a former SDS undercover officer who infiltrated the Putney branch of the Young Liberals, Croydon anarchist group Commitment, the Little Ilford branch of the Workers Revolutionary Party and the central London branch of the Anti-Internment League between 1972 and 1976. In 1972, he did not reveal his true identity to the court when convicted alongside three anti-apartheid activists, leading to their convictions being overturned in 2023. The reliability of his testimony about the Young Liberals was challenged in the Inquiry by core participant Peter Hain.
, HN336 'Dick Epps'HN336 'Dick Epps'‘Dick Epps’ is the cover name used by the former SDS undercover officer deployed into the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign, Stop the Seventy Tour and the International Marxist Group from late 1968 to mid-1970. For the Undercover Policing Inquiry and Operation Herne, Epps is referred to by the cypher HN336. In 2002, Epps appeared on the True Spies television documentary, using the pseudonym ‘Dan’. Full page: HN336 'Dick Epps', HN339 'Stewart Goodman'HN339 'Stewart Goodman'‘Stewart Goodman’ is the cover name used by a former undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad. He was deployed into the Anti-Apartheid Movement, Dambusters Mobilising Committee and the International Socialists between 1970 and 1971. Goodman is referred to as HN339 in the Undercover Policing Inquiry.Full page: HN339 'Stewart Goodman'
, HN346 Jill MosdellHN346 Jill MosdellHN346 Jill Mosdell was an SDS undercover who spied on anti-apartheid campaigns - the north-west London Stop the Seventy Tour, south-west London Action Committee Against Racialism and the Anti-Apartheid Movement - from at least April 1970. She later infiltrated Maoist groups in north London. She was withdrawn in February 1973 after fellow undercover HN45 ‘Dave Robertson’, who was spying on similar groups, was recognised as a police officer. Mosdell is dead and her cover name is unknown. Full page: HN346 Jill Mosdelland later in the 1980s by HN90 ‘Mark Kerry’.HN90 'Mark Kerry'Mark Kerry infiltrated the Socialist Workers Party and City of London Anti-Apartheid Group between 1988-1992.
AAM had close ties to the other anti-apartheid campaigning groups, and received significant support from both the Labour Party and the Liberal Party, holding fringe meetings at their annual party conferences. Though AAM had close ties to Stop The Seventy Tour (STST)Stop The Seventy Tour (STST)Stop the Seventy Tour (STST) was an anti-apartheid group active from 1969 to late 1970, specifically aimed at preventing or disrupting a South African cricketers’ tour of England. It was started by members of other anti-apartheid campaigns, including Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) and the Reading Joint Anti-Apartheid Committee. STST was spied on by HN135 Michael Ferguson, HN298 'Michael Scott', HN336 'Dick Epps', and HN346 Jill Mosdell.Full page: Stop The Seventy Tour (STST), it did not fully endorse its tactic of non-violent direct action. It attracted support from trade unions, religious organisations, student societies, and professional groups (such as health workers and architects).
It was one of the most active campaigning groups in Britain: a subscription-based membership organisation that elected a national committee and an executive committee. AAM functioned as a pressure group, using conventional campaigning methods such as boycotts, rallies, pickets, marches, holding conferences, lobbying key political actors, publishing a monthly newspaper, and raising public awareness.
AAM worked with well-known figures, for example, from the church (including the Right Reverend Ambrose Reeves); sports (including England cricketer Mike Brearley); and party politics (including Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe). Many South African activists living in the UK, such as Peter Hain, who is a core participant in the Inquiry, were directly involved in it and many other prominent figures expressed their support for the organisation.
It did not only face repression from the British state apparatus but also from South Africa's notorious security service, the Bureau for State Security (BOSS), which reported directly to the South African Prime Minister. AAM's October 1969 AGM was subject to covert recording by a South African security service agent, and this recording was later given to the prosecution in Peter Hain's 1972 conspiracy trial. The released files confirmed that Special Branch had a designated contact person to liaise with the South African Embassy in London.First Witness Statement of Lord Peter Hain (non state core participant), given in the UCPI, Tranche 1, Phase 2, 3 Mar 2020.View Document
MI5 note for liaison file after meeting between David Short, Mike Barber and F6 discussing which campaigns and groups were being infiltrated, held at SDS office on 7 July 1983
MI5 note for liaison file reporting on meeting between HN68, Dave Short and F6 to discuss MI5's intelligence requests and SDS officers, held at SDS offices on 10 Sept 1982
MI5 note for liaison file on meeting between HN68 and F6 discussing HN155 being a useful source at the heart of the SWP but a worry due to his personal conduct, held at the SDS office on 28 July 1982
Report on an anti-racist caucus of SE London International Marxist Group (3 people inc spycop) discussing the Deptford Anti-Racist Campaign, held at redacted venue on 11 Feb 1977
Report on a meeting of the West London Campaign against Racism and Fascism that was attacked by the NF, held at the Tavistock Medical Centre, Tavistock Road W11 on 21 Sept 1975
Report listing attendees of a Christmas party organised by the West London branch of Anti-Apartheid Movement, held at Christabel Gurney's home on 9 Dec 1972
Two reports: plans by the Anti-Apartheid Movement to organise a demo to mark Namibia Day, to be held at South Africa House on 26 Aug 1972; and AGM of AAM be held at Nat Liberal Club, Whitehall Place on 22 Oct 1972
Report on an upcoming demo against South African police brutality to be held by the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the NUS at South Africa House on 9 June 1972
Report on leaflet advertising an upcoming meeting organised by the Anti-Apartheid Movement on “Namibia- Prisoner of Apartheid” to be held at Central Hall, Westminster on 14 March 1972
Report on the Anti-Apartheid Movement’s plans for upcoming demo on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, delivering petition to Downing St, pickets at Rhodesia House, South Africa House and Rio Tinto Zinc, to be held on 21 Mar 19
Report on plans for a petition to be presented by the Anti-Apartheid Movement to the British Government on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 Mar 1972
Report on a private meeting held by the Anti-Apartheid Movement to discuss protesting at South Africa House, held at redacted person's home on 8 Nov 1971
Report on a conference held by the Anti-Apartheid Movement to discuss the strategy for its campaigns, held at Central Collegiate Building, 15 Gordon Street WC1 on 6 Nov 1971
Report on personal details and political activities of Abhimanyu Manchanda and Diane Langford of the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist League inc photo of Manchanda
Report on meeting of Dambusters Mobilising Committee discussing co-ordinated sit-ins at branches of Barclays Bank and other comapnies involved in Cabora Bassa Dam on 26 Nov 1970, held at AAM office, 89 Charlotte St on 20 Oct 1970
Report on meeting of Anti-Apartheid Movement about the liberation of South Africa and guerrilla warfare, held at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm NW1 on 6 July 1969
Telegram on leaflets distributed on South Africa Freedom March advertising rally on 'Liberation and Guerilla Warfare in Southern Africa' to be held at the Roundhouse on 6 July 1969
