Millions of Black South Africans, many standing in lines that stretched for hours, cast ballots for the first time in their lives beginning April 27, 1994. The four-day election brought Nelson Mandela's African National Congress to power, marking the definitive end of apartheid and the birth of a multiracial democracy.
For most of the roughly 22 million Black South Africans eligible to vote, April 27, 1994, was the first time in their lives they were allowed to cast a ballot in a national election. Lines formed before dawn outside polling stations from Soweto to rural Transkei, some voters waiting five or six hours under a hot sun, many dressed as if for church.
The election unfolded over four days to accommodate the logistics of enfranchising a population that had never voted before, using ballots printed with party logos and photographs for those who couldn't read. Nelson Mandela, released from 27 years of imprisonment only in 1990, voted at Ohlange High School in Durban, near the grave of ANC founder John Dube.
When results were finalized, the African National Congress won just over 62 percent of the vote, and Mandela was inaugurated president on May 10. The date is now commemorated annually in South Africa as Freedom Day, a public holiday marking the country's transition from one of the 20th century's most notorious systems of racial oppression to a constitutional democracy.
Key people: Nelson Mandela