661-Pete wrote:Throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, my family boycotted produce from South Africa during the reign of the apartheid regime. Did our action, and those of millions of other like-minded people, bring the end of apartheid one month closer? With hindsight, I think not.
Sociologists and others who study such things have concluded that the anti-apartheid movement was one of the most influential social movements in history. It is also consider important in the formation of the global social conscience or 'global civil society'.
I went to see Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak in the USA in the late 80s & he had a large audience. He was an inspiring speaker.
When the South African Rugby team toured New Zealand in the 80s, they were met with massive protests. Some matches were forced to be cancelled. It made international headlines. https://www.thenational.ae/sport/the-fl ... d-1.232069
As for what caused it, there is considerable disagreement amongst historians. Personally, I would not like to give de Clerk too much credit. Although he was a big factor, it would not have happened if the anti-apartheid movement within South Africa had not made the country nearly ungovernable.