Ephemera Relating to The End Conscription Campaign c.1985 (4)
This collection of ephemera captures one of the most powerful and strategic anti-apartheid movements of the 1980s: the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). Formed in 1983, the ECC was a coalition of organizations that fought against the compulsory military conscription of all white South African men into the South African Defence Force (SADF).
The Dynamic Iconography of the Logo
The logo visible on three of the items features a brilliant bit of symbolic resistance. It takes the classic anti-apartheid broken rifle motif and replaces the top half of the barrel with a shovel/spade topped by a peace dove.
This visual perfectly matches the campaign’s slogan seen here: "Construction not Conscription." By utilizing the shovel, the ECC shifted the narrative from passive draft-dodging to an active, patriotic desire to build up the country rather than occupy it.
The “ECC” is also made up of chain links being broken.
"Working for a Just Peace" Campaign (April 1986)
The yellow flyer and the bottom pamphlet detail a highly specific, nationwide ECC initiative launched in April 1986 called the "Working for a Just Peace" campaign.
During the mid-1980s, the apartheid government declared a State of Emergency, and the SADF was increasingly deployed into black South African townships to violently suppress unrest. The text on the yellow flyer directly challenges conscripts: "Ever thought about helping build a children's home, painting a hospital ward or laying a rural water pipe instead of patrolling the township in browns?"
To prove that alternative, non-military national service was viable, ECC members spent April 2 to 20, 1986, physically carrying out community service projects. The bottom flyer lists local Cape Town projects, such as landscaping at the Bruce Duncan Home for Children and cleaning up polluted rivers.
The Arrest of Philip Wilkinson
The portrait flyer on the top right introduces a vital human element to this archive. It features Philip Wilkinson, a Catholic conscientious objector from Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha).
The handwritten date on the flyer—30/4/86—is incredibly significant. Wilkinson had refused to report for a military camp and went into hiding. On April 26, 1986—just days before the date written on this flyer—Wilkinson publicly surfaced at an ECC "Working for a Just Peace" rally in Johannesburg. He walked onto the stage, gave a defiant speech about his refusal to serve in an apartheid army, and was immediately arrested by Military Police in front of the crowd. This flyer was distributed as an immediate act of solidarity and protest following his arrest.
Banned Literature and Local Underground Production
The bottom flyer features a striking photo of two heavily armed SADF soldiers patrolling a township, overlaid with the provocative question: "Is this all we have to offer?"
Because the ECC was incredibly effective at turning white public opinion against the border wars and township deployments, the apartheid state viewed them as a massive threat to state security. The government routinely banned ECC publications, used hidden police to seize flyers, and eventually banned the entire organization in 1988 under Emergency Regulations.
If you look at the very bottom left corner of the large open pamphlet, you can see the small print indicating it was printed by Atlas Printing Services, College Road, Athlone, and issued by the ECC branch out of an office at No. 1 Rhodesview, 435 Main Road, Observatory. These suburbs in Cape Town were vibrant hubs of student and left-wing political activism.
Historical Context of the Inscription
The identical neat handwriting on both documents reading "30/4/86, Cape Town" indicates these were collected right at the height of the April campaign, preserving a week-by-week material record of a movement that ultimately cracked the monolithic facade of white solidarity that the apartheid military machine relied upon.
Various sizes.
Some wear; creasing and staining.
R2,500
