South Africa's first free elections

Witness History

BBC

Personal Journals, Society & Culture, History

4.5 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2019

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After Apartheid all South Africans, regardless of race, were finally able to vote for the first time in April 1994. Organising the elections was a huge logistical challenge, white supremacists staged terror attacks to try to sabotage the vote and violent clashes between rival political groups threatened to disrupt voting day. Rev Frank Chikane was on the Independent Electoral Commission, the body charged with running the elections, and he explained to Rebecca Kesby how much stress, and joy there was the day all South Africans finally got democracy.

(Photo: Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC (African National Congress) and presidential candidate, voting in the 1994 general election in South Africa. Copyright: BBC)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
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0:39.4	Night after night.
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1:02.0	and a lot more watching listen on BBC Sounds
1:09.3	Hello and thanks for downloading this witness history podcast from the BBC World Service with me Rebecca
1:16.1	Kessby and we go back to the momentous day in 1994 that truly marked the end of the racist apartheid regime.
1:24.0	It was April the 27th, and all adult South Africans, regardless of race, were able to vote for the first time.
1:32.0	In Suweto and all over the country. able to vote for the first time.
1:33.0	In Suweto and all over the country, queues formed outside polling stations at first light.
1:38.0	I'm excited. I want to look forward for the New South Africa.
1:42.0	We've had this dream that one day things will come alright for us.
	...

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