South Africa Marks 30 Years Since the Ending of Apartheid

On a day marked by 21-gun salutes and solemn remembrances, South Africa celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first democratic election on April 27, 1994 — a pivotal moment that ended the harsh racial segregation and oppression of apartheid. This historic election not only enabled millions of Black South Africans to cast their votes for the first time but also ushered in Nelson Mandela as the nation’s first Black president, symbolizing a profound transformation from exclusion to empowerment. The anniversary, commemorated on Freedom Day, celebrates the day of its monumental first democratic election, an event that symbolically ended decades of a system of racial segregation and oppression. On this day in 1994, millions of Black South Africans, for the first time in the nation’s history, exercised their right to vote, fundamentally challenging the authority of a longstanding racist white minority government. The milestone election, which saw the once-banned African National Congress (ANC) winning decisively, brought Nelson Mandela, a figure of resilience and reconciliation, to the presidency. Mandela’s election was a watershed, occurring just four years after his release from 27 years of imprisonment, a period during which he became the face of the anti-apartheid struggle. The anniversary was commemorated with...