Disinvestment (or divestment) from South Africa was first advocated in the 1960s, in protest of South Africa's system of Apartheid, but was not implemented on a significant scale until the mid 1980s. The disinvestment campaign, after being realized in federal legislation enacted in 1986 by the United States, is credited as pressuring the South African Government to embark on negotiations ultimately leading to the dismantling of the apartheid system.