Today in History: Nelson Mandela sworn in as president of South Africa
Nelson Mandela was the first black president of South Africa and was sworn in on this day, 24 years ago.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July, 1918, and would go on to become one of the world’s greatest leaders. He was sworn in as the first black president of South Africa on 10 May 1994.
Madiba is arguably the most well-known and easily-recognisable icon and symbol of the Apartheid struggle in South Africa.
He was then 11th president of the African National Congress (ANC), serving from 1991 to 1997, and was succeeded by Thabo Mbeki.
The 1994 elections in which he ran as the ANC’s head candidate were the first free and fair democratic elections in the country’s history after decades of National Party (NP) rule under the Apartheid regime.
They were the first elections in which people of colour were allowed to vote in South Africa and took place from 27 to 29 April all over the country.
Heading into the elections, the three leading parties were by far the Mandela-led ANC, the FW de Klerk-led NP, and the Mangosuthu Buthelezi-led IFP, with many political pundits backing the ANC to sweep up most of the votes at the elections.
Approximately 22,6 million South Africans registered to vote in the elections, less than half of the country’s population at the time.
When election day rolled around, a resounding 19,7 million (86,9 per cent) of the registered voters pitched up to change history for South Africa.
As was expected, the ANC won the elections by a country mile, taking home 12 237 655 (62,65 per cent) of the votes.
Of the 19,7 million votes, 193 112 were spoilt while there was a total of 19 533 498 successfully cast votes.
All in all, 19 parties were on the ballot for the 1994 elections, with only seven gaining seats in the National Assembly and only five gaining positions in the Senate (National Council of Provinces 1997 – ).
The ANC garnered 252 of the 400 National Assembly seats, while holding 60 of the 90 positions in the Senate.
Madiba was honoured throughout his lifetime for the immense efforts he made in the fight against the Apartheid regime.
He was honoured with the Freedom of the City in 29 cities, boroughs, and towns all over the world, honorary citizenship in 14 cities, and also received 26 civilian honours from 24 countries and unions (including the Commonwealth of Nations).
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