1994 South African general election

26–29 April 1994
All 400 seats in the National Assembly of South Africa 201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	86.87%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Nelson Mandela F. W. de Klerk Mangosuthu Buthelezi Party ANC National IFP Last election Banned 94 – Seats won 252 82 43 Seat change New 8 – Popular vote 12,237,655 3,983,690 2,058,294 Percentage 62.65% 20.39% 10.54% Swing – 27.81 pp –   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Constand Viljoen Zach de Beer Clarence Makwetu Party Freedom Front Democratic Party PAC Last election – 33 Banned Seats won 9 7 5 Seat change New 26 – Popular vote 424,555 338,426 243,478 Percentage 2.17% 1.73% 1.25% Swing New 18.27 pp –
State President before election F. W. de Klerk National Elected President Nelson Mandela ANC

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Ballot paper used in 1994 election

Share of National Party votes in 1994. The areas which voted for the National Party were largely Afrikaans- or English speaking

General elections were held in South Africa between 26 and 29 April 1994.^[1] The elections were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and marked the culmination of the four-year process that ended apartheid.

Millions queued in lines over a four-day voting period. Altogether, 19,726,579 votes were counted, and 193,081 were rejected as invalid. As widely expected, the African National Congress (ANC), whose slate incorporated the labour confederation COSATU and the South African Communist Party, won a sweeping victory, taking 62 percent of the vote, just short of the two-thirds majority required to unilaterally amend the Interim Constitution. As required by that document, the ANC formed a Government of National Unity with the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party, the two other parties that won more than 20 seats in the National Assembly. The governing National Party polled just over 20%, and was thus eligible for a post of Vice President to incumbent president De Klerk. The new National Assembly's first act was to elect Nelson Mandela as President, making him the country's first black chief executive.

The date 27 April is now a public holiday in South Africa, Freedom Day.

Background

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) entered the election late, and it was added to the already-printed ballot papers by means of a sticker.^[2] In rural areas with limited infrastructure, people queued "for days" in order to vote.^[2]

The Conservative Party, the official opposition in the outgoing National Assembly, did not contest the elections. The Herstigte Nasionale Party, which had run in the white-only elections in 1989 also chose not to run.

Results

National Assembly

The 400 members of the National Assembly were chosen from party lists in proportion to each party's share of the national ballot.

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	African National Congress	12,237,655	62.65	252
	National Party	3,983,690	20.39	82
	Inkatha Freedom Party	2,058,294	10.54	43
	Freedom Front	424,555	2.17	9
	Democratic Party	338,426	1.73	7
	Pan Africanist Congress	243,478	1.25	5
	African Christian Democratic Party	88,104	0.45	2
	Africa Muslim Party	34,466	0.18	0
	African Moderates Congress Party	27,690	0.14	0
	Dikwankwetla Party	19,451	0.10	0
	Federal Party	17,663	0.09	0
	Minority Front	13,433	0.07	0
	Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights	10,575	0.05	0
	African Democratic Movement	9,886	0.05	0
	Women's Rights Peace Party	6,434	0.03	0
	Ximoko Progressive Party	6,320	0.03	0
	Keep It Straight and Simple Party	5,916	0.03	0
	Workers' List Party	4,169	0.02	0
	Luso-South African Party	3,293	0.02	0
Total		19,533,498	100.00	400
Valid votes		19,533,498	99.02
Invalid/blank votes		193,112	0.98
Total votes		19,726,610	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		22,709,152	86.87
Source: African Elections Database

Provincial legislature results

Members of the provincial legislatures were elected from party lists in proportion to each party's share of the provincial ballot.

Legacy

Following the elections, 27 April subsequently became a national public holiday, Freedom Day.^[4]

In a Sunday Independent article on the 20th anniversary of the election, Steven Friedman, who headed the IEC's information analysis department during the election, stated that the lack of a voters roll made verifying the results of the election difficult, and there were widespread accusations of cheating.^[2] Friedman characterised the election as a "technical disaster but a political triumph", and intimated that the final results were as a result of a negotiated compromise, rather than being an accurate count of the votes cast, stating that it was impossible to produce an accurate result under the circumstances that the election was held. He wrote that he believed that the result of the election, which gave KwaZulu-Natal to the IFP; gave the National Party 20% of the vote share, and a Deputy President position; and held the ANC back from the two-thirds majority with the ability to unilaterally write the final constitution, helped prevent a civil war.^[2]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1994 South African general election.

• US Department of the Army, South Africa Country Study, "The 1994 Elections"
• IEC results for 1994 election
• Proportional representation and alternative systems