72 days that shaped South Africa (8)

Just how “miraculous” was South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy? How close did the country really come to civil war?

Check out our press clipping snapshots of the 72 days leading up to Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as SA’s first democratically elected President – and see how heavily the odds were stacked against “the rainbow nation”.

18 APRIL 1994

City braces for march

Johannesburg is bracing itself for Inkatha Freedom Party mass action – now scheduled for tomorrow – after the last-minute postponement of the planned march to ANC headquarters.
Traffic chaos hit the city centre this morning as roads were sealed off in case of unscheduled mass action by members of the IFP Youth Brigade.
The Star, Monday 18 April 1994

19 APRIL 1994

Oosterbroek among slain

The Star’s award-winning chief photographer, Ken Oosterbroek, was among several people killed in violence on the East Rand yesterday.
At least 16 people have died in East Rand townships in the past three days.
Oosterbroek died and two other photographers were injured during a firefight between hostel dwellers and National Peacekeeping Force troops in Tokoza.
The Star, Tuesday 19 April 1994

Game park invites you to vote with pride

Most South Africans are half expecting to fight their way through mayhem to cast their votes, but some will do it in style.
The Sabi Sands reserve in the eastern Transvaal is offering a half-price election special. “Enjoy the luxury and safety of voting at Ulosatu Game Lodge – security guaranteed (40-strong resident lion pride)”, says the advert.
Business Day, Tuesday 19 April 1994

20 APRIL 1994

IFP for poll

South Africa was yesterday rescued from the brink of a political tragedy when the Inkatha Freedom Party finally agreed to contest the country’s first nonracial elections, to be held next week.
The announcement follows five days of intensive meetings between IFP president Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, State President FW de Klerk and African National Congress president Mr Nelson Mandela.
Buthelezi, Mandela and De Klerk acknowledged the shuttle diplomacy of Kenyan roving ambassador Professor Washington Okumu, who brokered the negotiations leading to the historic inclusive settlement.
Sowetan, Wednesday 20 April 1994

NP loses its place at the bottom

The National Party has lost its sought-after spot on the very bottom of the national ballot paper only days after putting up posters telling voters: “To be tops, vote at the bottom.”
The last-minute deal struck between the Government, ANC and IFP in Pretoria yesterday will see stickers bearing the IFP’s name, logo and a picture of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi stuck on to the white space at the bottom of the ballot papers – below the National Party.
The Star, Wednesday 20 April 1994

21 APRIL 1994

Joy as IFP plunges in

Tens of thousands of Inkatha Freedom party supporters marched through Ulundi yesterday to the Legislative Assembly building to celebrate the decision by the party to enter the election.
Sowetan, Thursday 21 April 1994

Buthelezi promises IFP will accept election outcome

Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi said yesterday Inkatha would accept the results of next week’s elections, if they were endorsed by the international community.
Business Day, Thursday 21 April 1994

Foreign investors return as buyers

Foreign investors returned as net buyers of SA equities and gilts last week after offloading substantial amounts of their holdings earlier in the month.
Latest JSE trading statistics for the week ended April 15 showed there was an inflow of R292.89m from an inflow of R490.499m in the week ended April 8.
London-based merchant bank Barings finance head Christopher Kemball said international funds could channel another $4bn into SA after the elections if the country’s risk rating improved.
Business Day, Thursday 21 April 1994

22 APRIL 1994

Flag comes down on old regime

The new South African flag will be ushered in one minute after midnight on Wednesday – April 27 – when the new flag is hoisted and the Interim Constitution comes into operation.
This signals the end to decades of minority rule.
At a minute to midnight on Tuesday the present flag will be lowered for the last time to the strains of Die Stem.
And at one minute past mid-night the new flag will be hoisted while the new anthems, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika and Die Stem, are being played.
The Star, Friday 22 April 1994

Clinton’s pledge to SA

Washington – Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk together are a “strong rebuke to the cynics of the world”, according to US President Bill Clinton.
In an interview at the White House with the editor-in-chief of The Star, Richard Steyn, and the editor of Sowetan, Agrey Klaaste – the first given to South African journalists – the president said it would be difficult to overstate the significance to the American people of next week’s South African election.
Emphasising that the US intended to be a full partner of South Africa from the beginning, Clinton said he would shortly be announcing “substantial” assistance for building SA economically.
The Star, Friday 22 April 1994

CP in disarray as councils back Viljoen

The CP was in disarray yesterday as Freedom Front leader Constand Viljoen rejected a pact with it and CP-controlled councils deserted the party and urged whites to vote for Viljoen.
At the same time the Freedom Front will sign an accord, which does not meet any of the CP’s demands for a right-wing electoral pact, with the ANC and government in Cape Town today.
Business Day, Friday 22 April 1994

23 APRIL 1994

Rallies called in final bid to woo voters

ANC leader Nelson Mandela and Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi are to speak at massive election rallies in Durban this weekend in a final bid to win voters in KwaZulu/Natal.
Weekend Star, Saturday 23 April 1994

‘I’m so proud of Nelson’

London – Nelson Mandela’s former jailer James Gregory has spoken out about the man he now regards as “closer than a brother”.
In a two-page newspaper interview yesterday, Gregory, who guarded the ANC leader for more than 20 years, admits he started out with instructions to do everything he could to demoralise the man he was told was a terrorist. But something in Mandela stirred Gregory. “He was different.”
Weekend Star, Saturday 23 April 1994

We’re out of this joint, say angry Green candidates

Two of the Green Party’s candidates in the Western Cape have left the party in outrage at a manifesto which calls for the legislation and mass production of dagga as a purportedly ecologically sound alternative resource.
Weekend Star, Saturday 23 April 1994

24 APRIL 1994

Final step to freedom

South Africa embarks this week on a second round of revolutionary change after completing a near-miraculous transition from apartheid to democracy.
The midweek election is recognised around the world as a momentous and triumphal event, the completion of an impossible journey against the odds.
For South Africa, the election marks the end of 342 years of white hegemony; for Africa, it completes the liberation of a continent; for the world, it is the final repudiation of institutionalised European racism.
Sunday Times, Sunday 24 April 1994

Now is the time

Apartheid and centuries of white domination finally end next week when millions of our people, African, white, coloured and Indian, cast their vote to elect South Africa’s first democratic government.
The elections mark the most momentous event in our country’s history, ending nearly 350 years of racial domination, conflict and polarisation.
By finally consigning that ugly word – APARTHEID – to history, South Africans are on the threshold of giving the world a racial miracle.
City Press, Sunday 24 April 1994

Final step to freedom

The Octogenerian and the teenager. He’s 81. She’s 19. And they’ll both be absolute beginners on election day. Walter Sisulu, oldest member of the ANC’s executive committee, and Johannesburg secretary Kim Schultz will be voting for the first time on Wednesday.
Sisulu, vice-president of the ANC, was imprisoned on Robben island after the Rivonia Trial in 1964 and released in October 1989. He’ll be drawing his first ever cross for the ANC. Kim, who hails from Stilfontein and works in downtown Johannesburg, is keeping her vote secret.
Sunday Times, Sunday 24 April 1994

Research, photos: Ndaba Dlamini