Work begins on Britain's first centre to the anti-apartheid movement

WORK on Britain’s first centre dedicated to the anti-apartheid movement is set to begin in London following a £1.2 million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, a charity has announced. The site of the former headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) in Penton Street, Islington, will be restored to create the Anti-Apartheid Legacy Centre of Memory & Learning, social justice body the Liliesleaf Trust said. 

Between 1978 and 1994, the building was a hub for coordinating international opposition to South African apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation designed by the descendants of white settler populations. The London site was home to ANC leaders Oliver Tambo and Thabo Mbeki, who eventually replaced Nelson Mandela as South African president in 1999 following the country’s transition to inclusive democracy.