June 26, 1959: On this day in 1959 the Boycott Movement was founded in London to put public pressure on nations to boycott the purchase of South African goods as long as apartheid, the policy of racially segregating South Africa’s minority population from its majority black population, was maintained in the country. The South African wine industry, which exported much of its product, was very badly hit in the decades that follow. For instance, some countries banned the importation of South African products altogether for as long as apartheid was maintained, particularly ones such as wine where the industry back in South Africa was dominated by the white population. The Boycott Movement was maintained until the early 1990s when Apartheid was gradually brought to an end in South Africa. The country’s wine industry quickly began to recover and today has once again become one of the world’s foremost exporters of wine worldwide. For more information, see this page on the Boycott Movement.

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