1994 South African general election

E701667

The 1994 South African general election was the country’s first fully democratic, multiracial national vote that ended apartheid rule and brought Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power.

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Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf general election
historic event
alsoKnownAs first democratic election in South Africa
coalitionPartnersInGovernmentOfNationalUnity African National Congress NERFINISHED
Inkatha Freedom Party NERFINISHED
National Party (South Africa) NERFINISHED
commemoratedBy Freedom Day (South Africa) NERFINISHED
country South Africa
electoralSystem closed-list proportional representation
electoralThreshold none
endDate 1994-04-29
FreedomDayDate April 27
governmentFormedBy African National Congress NERFINISHED
governmentTypeAfterElection Government of National Unity (South Africa) NERFINISHED
historicalContext transition from apartheid to democracy
largestParty African National Congress NERFINISHED
leaderOfWinningParty Nelson Mandela NERFINISHED
legalBasis Interim Constitution of South Africa NERFINISHED
legislatureElected National Assembly of South Africa NERFINISHED
provincial legislatures of South Africa
location South Africa NERFINISHED
mainVotingDays 1994-04-27
mainWinner African National Congress NERFINISHED
majorConsequence election of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa
end of apartheid-era minority rule
establishment of full multiracial democracy in South Africa
nextElection 1999 South African general election NERFINISHED
notableFeature conducted under conditions of significant political violence and tension in some regions
first national election in which citizens of all races could vote
oversightBody Independent Electoral Commission (South Africa) NERFINISHED
percentageForAfricanNationalCongress 62.65%
percentageForInkathaFreedomParty 10.54%
percentageForNationalParty 20.39%
presidentAfterElection Nelson Mandela NERFINISHED
previousElection 1989 South African general election NERFINISHED
primeMinisterBeforeElection F. W. de Klerk NERFINISHED
registeredVoters approximately 22.7 million
seatsNeededForTwoThirdsMajority 267
seatsWonByAfricanNationalCongress 252
seatsWonByInkathaFreedomParty 43
seatsWonByNationalParty 82
secondLargestParty National Party (South Africa) NERFINISHED
startDate 1994-04-26
statePresidentBeforeElection F. W. de Klerk NERFINISHED
thirdLargestParty Inkatha Freedom Party NERFINISHED
totalSeatsContested 400
voterTurnout approximately 86%
votesForAfricanNationalCongress approximately 12.2 million
votesForInkathaFreedomParty approximately 2.07 million
votesForNationalParty approximately 3.98 million
votingSystem party-list proportional representation

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

South African general elections firstPostApartheidElection 1994 South African general election
United States–South Africa relations improvedAfter 1994 South African general election