8. First Democratic Election (1994)
First Democratic Election. Photo credit: Awepa
After a sequence of tense discussions and decades of freedom struggle, South Africa held its first democratic election on April 27, 1994. For the first time, all races were allowed to participate in the election. Nineteen political parties took part in the poll and 20 million people voted. The ANC won the election with 62.5 percent of the vote followed by the National Party, which received 20.39 percent of the vote. Even though it won the election, the ANC agreed to join hands with other parties and form a government of national unity headed by Nelson Mandela, who became the first Black president of South Africa.
