where the west had huge investments in mining interests. to use that influence to free him and fight apartheid. that didn t happen. years passed. decades passed. an international movement sprung to boycott business, to di vest from them. to impose, to try to get governments to impose formal sanctions on that regime. it took hold here in the united states in the 1980s a. young student in los angeles asked his school s administration to stop investing in south african companies. that student s name was barak obama. free mandela became a popular rallying cry. not everyone in america was on board with freeing mandela and fighting the apartheid regime a. bill was introduced in congress. the anti-apartheid act of 19 necks would require the complete withdrawal.