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AA News listed points of conflict to be resolved before South African elections proposed for 27 April 1994 could go ahead. It reported on the latest developments in the search for peace in Mozambique and Angola. In the third in its series on South Africa’s Bantustans, it looked at KwaZulu and the growth of the Inkatha Freedom Movement.  The newspaper pictured Nelson Mandela’s visit to the family of murdered British teenager Stephen Lawrence and carried tributes to Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani. 

‘Election breakthrough’ proclaimed this issue, announcing 27 April 1994 as the date of South Africa’s first one person one vote. It carried a four-page feature on the AAM’s conference ‘Southern Africa: Making Hope a Reality’. SADC (Southern Africa Development Conference) Secretary Dr Simba Makoni told AA News that regional growth must be a post-apartheid priority. The newspaper reported on the delay in holding elections in Mozambique and on ‘the worst war in the world’ in Angola.

AA News led on the UN Security Council’s condemnation of UNITA for re-igniting the civil war in Angola. It reported on escalating political violence in South Africa in the run-up to the April 1994 election and on the launch of the AAM’s international campaign for free and fair elections. It urged the UN to send a big observer mission to the South African election. Alan Brooks reported on COSATU’s Programme for Economic Reconstruction and Development. COSATU General Secretary Jay Naidoo previewed COSATU’s Special Congress.  

This issue led on Nelson Mandela’s visit to Glasgow, where he received the freedom of nine British cities and appealed for continuing solidarity. It reported on the UN’s historic lifting of economic sanctions against South Africa. MERG (Macro Economic Research Group) economist Cyrus Rustomjee examined the post-apartheid South African economy’s need for new investment, setting out the argument for state intervention. Vella Pillay called for more spending on social infrastructure. AA News reflected the AAM’s new emphasis on combating racism in Britain, reporting on racist attacks in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

AA News led on the ANC’s election manifesto, which promised a wide range of social reforms. Launching the AAM’s ‘Countdown to Democracy’, Archbishop Trevor Huddleston called for international support to ensure South Africa’s election on 27 April was free and fair. John Hughes looked at South Africa’s transitional constitution and analysed divisions in the far-right Freedom Alliance. A centre spread surveyed the ANC’s plans for reconstruction and development. AA News reported on the Women’s National Coalition.

AA News Election Special described the election framework and the make-up of the UN observer mission. It outlined the challenges in ensuring the election was free and fair. It listed the political parties and explained South Africa’s transitional constitution. AA News reproduced a message from Nelson Mandela asking for continued support from the AAM and pledging the ANC to an ‘ambitious programme of reconstruction and development’.

The June/July issue reported on Nelson Mandela’s State of the Nation address to Parliament on 24 May, following his inauguration as President on 10 May. It recorded the lifting of the UN arms embargo and accession to the OAU and the Commonwealth. AAM members who served as election observers told their election stories. A centre spread looked at ANC policies on job creation, land and health. AA News stressed the need for continuing solidarity to help South Africa and the Southern African region overcome the legacy of apartheid.

The last issue of AA News announced plans to set up a successor organisation to the AAM at a conference on 29 October. Its aims would be to campaign for peace and democracy throughout Southern Africa, especially in Angola and Mozambique; to work for reconstruction in the region; and to build ‘people to people’ solidarity. Frank Chikane warned the new South African government against accepting a military culture. Joe Slovo set out plans to confront South Africa’s housing crisis. Margaret Ling reported on the ‘Mozambique Now!’ campaign in the run-up to Mozambique’s October election.