Celebrate Freedom Day
Today we commemorate the day in 1994 when the first democratic election was held in South Africa.
APRIL 27 commemorates the day in 1994 when the first democratic election was held in South Africa. Today, South Africa celebrates Freedom Day to mark the liberation of our country and its people from a long period of colonialism and white minority domination (apartheid).
Apartheid ‘officially’ began in South Africa in 1948, but colonialism and oppression of the African majority had plagued South Africa since 1652.
The ANC, South African Communist Party (SACP), Pan African Congress (PAC) and other organisations were unbanned on February 2, 1990, and a non-racial constitution was eventually agreed upon and adopted in 1993. On April 27, 1994, the nation finally cast its vote in the first democratic election in the country. The ANC was then voted into power and Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the President of South Africa on May 10.
Freedom Day serves as a reminder that the guarantee of our freedom requires us to remain permanently vigilant against corruption and the erosion of the values embodied in our constitution.
sahistory.org.
