Nelson Mandela was elected as president at a sitting of the newly constituted National Assembly on Monday, 9 May 1994, in Cape Town. The election of the ANC leader as the South African head of state represented the culmination of the African people’s conflict with colonialism and apartheid stretching over more than 300 years.

Mandela’s ascension to the presidency signalled victory and came with the goodwill of almost every government and political formation across the globe. With the exception of the small band of defeated white right-wingers, there was probably no-one on Earth who did not want Mandela and his government to succeed...

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