2012/06/01 by Stuart Mole · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Urban and Rural Development Challenges #African history and culture studies #Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism
paper · doi:10.1080/00358533.2012.690968
openalex publication_date 2012/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, meeting in the Bahamas, established an Eminent Persons Group to encourage dialogue towards the establishment of a non-racial and representative government in South Africa. The Group visited South Africa and met with leaders of the front-line states, government ministers and black leaders in South Africa and African National Congress leaders in exile. Its report was published as a Penguin Special in June 1986, reputedly the fastest book ever published and an immediate best-seller. The report painted a damning picture of apartheid and galvanised calls for full economic and financial sanctions. It demonstrated the distinctive strengths of the Commonwealth in world affairs.