TRADE union leaders from southern African states are visiting North Yorkshire this week.

The visit is part of a week-long tour to mark the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid.

Manufacturing and professional union, Amicus, is hosting the visit, which coincides with its annual industrial conferences in Harrogate and Scarborough.

Key figures in the South African delegation include Siphiwe Hlope, the deputy general secretary of the Swaziland National Association of Civil Service Federation of Trade Unions, and Collen Gwiyo, the general secretary of the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers' Union.

The tour is part of the Amicus Africa Matters campaign, which was launched with Chancellor Gordon Brown and Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) this month.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage union members in the Yorkshire and Humberside area to join ACTSA and re-establish links with the region, which were so important during the campaign to end apartheid and free Nelson Mandela.

Updated: 09:39 Monday, June 28, 2004