South Africans begin voting in an election seen as their country's most important in 30 years (2024)

FAQs

Who became the first president in South Africa after their first free elections in 1994? ›

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (/mænˈdɛlə/ man-DEH-lə; Xhosa: [xolíɬaɬa mandɛ̂ːla]; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician, and statesman who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

Check your guess with this news item (from the BBC) of 10 May 1994. Nelson Mandela has become South Africa's first Black President after more than three centuries of White rule. Mr Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) party won 252 of the 400 seats in the first democratic elections of South Africa's history.

The ANC is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in most provinces.

1994 in South Africa saw the transition from South Africa's National Party government who had ruled the country since 1948 and had advocated the apartheid system for most of its history, to the African National Congress (ANC) who had been outlawed in South Africa since the 1950s for its opposition to apartheid.

On April 26, 1994, the country's first free elections were won by Mandela and the ANC, and a “national unity” coalition was formed with de Klerk's National Party and the Zulus' Inkatha Freedom Party. On May 10, Mandela was inaugurated in a ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries.

Pre-Crisis Phase (May 31, 1910-June 13, 1913): South Africa formally achieved its independence from Britain on May 31, 1910.

When South Africa became a democratic country on 27 April 1994, not only did it result in a fundamental change in the political landscape, but it also ushered in a new constitutional legal order unparalleled in the country's history.

Over time, a combination of internal and international pressure on the white supremacist regime led to the dismantling of apartheid, culminating in the 1992 vote. Negotiations to end apartheid began in 1990, after communism crumbled in Europe.

Despite having Africa's most industrialized economy, the injustices of South Africa's past have not been made right three decades after Nelson Mandela and the ANC were elected in the country's first all-race vote and promised a better life for all.

Bill Clinton is an American politician from Arkansas who served as the 42nd President of the United States (1993-2001).

Who became President of South Africa in 1994 which officially ended the apartheid? ›

In April 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected as South Africa's first black president. You are entering the 2001-2009 Archive for the U.S. Department of State. If you're looking for current information, visit www.state.gov.

South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.