Browse the AAM Archive

The May–June issue focused on the spiralling violence in South Africa and the South African Government’s failure to meet the 30 April deadline for the release of political prisoners agreed with the ANC. It reported on de Klerk’s visit to Europe in April and Labour MPs boycott of the reception held for him at South Africa House. Sipho Pityana examined the crisis facing South Africa’s Bantustans. Louise Asmal described her visit to political prisoners who were still being held on death row in Pretoria Central Prison.

AA News again highlighted the stalling of the peace process because of the South African Government’s failure to take steps to end violence in the townships. It featured the ANC’s national conference held in Durban in July. It publicised plans for an AAM conference on post-apartheid solidarity action. Marga Holness reported on the situation in Angola and Deborah Ewing on the breakdown of the talks to end the civil war in Mozambique. In a special black solidarity feature, Lela Kogbara argued that after the formal end of apartheid, black South Africans would still struggle against external and internalised racism.

The September issue led on the exposure of South African Government secret funding of anti-ANC groups. It reported on the election of a new ANC leadership at the movement’s Durban conference. In a special trade union supplement, AA News featured COSATU’s conference held in July. A centre spread described the links between British and South African trade unions and the work of the AAM trade union committee. Gerald O’Sullivan reported on continuing repression in the Bophuthatswana Bantustan.

This issue featured the AAM’s ‘Vote for Democracy’ campaign, launched in Glasgow to coincide with the TUC Congress. It examined the role of a future democratic South Africa in the Southern African region. It reviewed the prospects for South Africa’s National Peace Accord and the failure to release political prisoners. A special feature examined the land question in Namibia. AA News reviewed the South African Human Rights Commission’s report on political violence, showingd that over 3,000 South Africans had been killed since July 1990 by vigilantes and the security forces.

AA News led on the two-day stay-at-home by South African workers and the Patriotic Front conference convened by the ANC and PAC. In the last feature in its ‘Peace Process Monitor’ series, it looked forward to the convening of all-party talks. Darkey Africa, founder member of a civic association in the Northern Cape, told AA News about grassroots attempts to democratise local government. AA News reported on the formation of a new South African united students organisation and on plans for a NUS/AAM student conference in Britain.

This issue led on the first meeting of CODESA (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) on 20–21 December. Kader Asmal argued the meeting was a watershed in South Africa’s transition to democracy. A report on the AAM’s AGM recorded that it was dominated by discussion on future solidarity with a democratic South Africa. Jean Middleton reported on the South African Communist Party’s national congress. Basil Davidson emphasised the importance of post-apartheid South Africa’s working for the development of its neighbours in Southern Africa.

‘Yes to Democracy’, proclaimed AA News, reporting on the whites-only referendum on negotiations for a new constitution. The newspaper again exposed the involvement of the South African Defence Force in the violence in KwaZulu Natal. In the run-up to the British General Election, AA News asked political parties about their policy on Southern Africa. It reproduced the AAM’s Black and Ethnic Minorities Committee’s call for the AAM to increase its campaigning against racism in Britain. Glenys Kinnock wrote about the social and economic challenges she had witnessed on her recent visit to South Africa. 

AA News recorded the deadlock in negotiations at CODESA II, following de Klerk’s insistence on a white blocking mechanism on a new constitution. It again called for the South African government to take action to end the political violence in the townships. The ANC Women’s League’s Baleka Kgositile told AA News about the importance of international people-to-people solidarity in helping to meet the huge challenges facing a new South Africa. AA News examined the role of the international community in ensuring free and fair elections in South Africa.