
Voters in long queues during the 1994 non-racial general elections on April 27, 1994, in South Africa. Today, in 2021, the country commemorates 27 years of freedom.
Photo by Rapport/Gallo Images via Getty Images
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Voters in long queues during the 1994 non-racial general elections on April 27, 1994, in South Africa. Today, in 2021, the country commemorates 27 years of freedom.
Here is a summary of important dates, stats and events that served as a turning point in South Africa's biggest political transition — the first democratic election that took place on April 27, 1994.
That there once was a period in South Africa's political history where Black people were forbidden from enjoying the most basic human rights is still unfathomable. It was a moment in history that robbed Black people of their dignity, rendering them invisible and inconsequential in their country of birth.
Freedom Day, celebrated annually on April 27, is one of the most important dates on the South African calendar. It is a day on which South Africans are encouraged to reflect on the struggles of the brutal Apartheid regime that saw political leaders, students, teachers and ordinary citizens lose their lives in the long, arduous battle for democracy and political stability.
True to the George Santayana adage, "To know your future, you must understand your past!" And with this understanding firmly clasped in our hands, may history never repeat itself. May we remember that a long, winding and prickly road to healing and building awaits. Here's to 27 years of freedom!
Below is a rundown of important dates to know…
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19 political parties contested in the 1994 election. These were: African National Congress(ANC), National Party (NP), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC), Freedom Front (FF), Democratic Party (DP), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Africa Muslim Party (AMP), African Moderates Congress (AMC), Dikwankwetla Party of South Africa (DPSA), Federal Party (FP), Minority Front (MF), Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights (SOCCER), African Democratic Movement (ADM), Women's Right Peace Party (WRPP), Ximoko Progressive Party (XPP), Keep It Straight & Simple Party (KISS), Worker's List Party (WLP), and Luso-South Africa Party (LUSO).
The late Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first Black President.Photo by © Louise Gubb/CORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images.
10 December 1996. The final draft of South Africa's Constitution was signed into law by President Nelson Mandela in Sharpeville, a township located south of Gauteng. The Constitution, however, only came into effect on 4 February 1997.