The day commemorates independence and the first democratic post-apartheid non-racial elections, which took place on April 27th, 1994, and saw Nelson Mandela elected as President.
The 1994 elections marked the first time that anybody over the age of 18 from any race group, including foreign residents permanently residing in South Africa, was eligible to vote. Non-whites had limited voting rights during apartheid.
Millions of people waited in line throughout a four-day voting session. Overall, 19,726,579 ballots were tallied, with 193,081 dismissed as illegitimate. As predicted, the African National Congress (ANC) scored a landslide win, with 62% of the vote, falling just shy of the two-thirds majority necessary to unilaterally modify the interim constitution.
The ANC created a Government of National Unity alongside the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party, both of which won more than 20 seats in the National Assembly. The new National Assembly's first act was to elect Nelson Mandela as president, making him the country's first black president.
