by Chris McLaughlin
MIKE TERRY, a pillar of the anti-apartheid struggle for almost 20 years until its demise, is to be buried at a small family funeral today (December 12) following a heart attack last week at the age of 61.
Mr Terry played a critical role in raising awareness and turning public opinion in Britain against apartheid in South Africa and in making the institutionalised racist regime a pariah in the international community.
His work as executive secretary of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was one of the key influences on events which led to the release of Nelson Mandela from 27 years of imprisonment and the subsequent collapse of apartheid and the election of President Mandela.
His encounter with racism in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), where he went to teach in a mission, cemented his dedication to supporting the fight for rights for southern Africa’s black communities and confirmed his view that many of the church-led missionaries merely patronised black people.
After studying physics at Birmingham University, he was briefly national secretary of the National Union of Students with responsibility for international policy. A year after he joined AAM in 1975, the student uprising and its brutal suppression took place in Soweto followed by the murder of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko in 1977.
Mr Terry’s determination to focus British thoughts on sanctions began to show signs of success although the then Labour Government under Harold Wilson remained staunchly opposed, as did the later Tory Government of Margaret Thatcher.
Support for sanctions mushroomed when rebellion swept through the townships in 1985 and AAM support groups in Britain swelled to 1,300, affiliated to trade unions, Labour party branches, churches and community organisations. The previous year AAM mobilised 70,000 people in protest at the visit to London of President PW Botha.
The campaign to free Nelson Mandela, began on his 60th birthday at a party in the Commons organised by Mr Terry led to a concert at Alexandra Palace on his 65th and an overflowing event at Wembley Stadium on his 70th which was broadcast to
63 countries and watched by an estimated billion viewers.
On Mr Mandela’s election Mr Terry retrained as a teacher and helped set up AAM’s successor, the Action for Southern Africa group, whose spokesman said: “Mike was a dedicated and inspirational campaigner who built not just a campaign but a movement. We will miss him but we also celebrate his life and achievements.”
Details of a memorial service to be held next year will be announced in due course.
