The UDF launches the Million Signatures Campaign and by October collect just under 400 000 signatures.

On 22 January 1984, amidst the Apartheid government’s constitutional reform plans, the United Democratic Front (UDF) embarked on an ambitious campaign to collect one million signatures from the public, declaring opposition against the Apartheid government and its constitutional reforms, and as a show of support for the UDF. By the end of the campaign in October, it had only managed to collect close to 400 000 signatures. The organisation blamed the failure of the campaign on police harassment of its supporters and prospective participants, but the party’s internal conflict, inexperience of its leadership and differences in priorities could also have contributed to the disappointing outcome.