Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – Millions of South Africans celebrated, on Sunday, the 20th anniversary of the country’s historic democratic elections which swept Nelson Mandela into power and changed Africa’s political landscape forever.
President Jacob Zuma on Sunday marked the occasion by saying the collapse of apartheid had ushered in a new era, characterised by “hope for a better country” by all South Africans.
“And indeed, that has happened. South Africa is a much better place to live in,” he told revelers in an address at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
He added that the country had made significant strides in alleviating poverty, reducing crime and fostering racial unity, since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
But not everyone agreed with Zuma’s sentiments.
The country’s last apartheid president, F.W. de Klerk, saluted the successes seen in two decades of democracy, but he took aim at Zuma’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), blaming it for gross mismanagement and its “increasingly aggressive” racial discrimination.
De Klerk, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela, recalled the vote on 27 April 1994 as “our proudest moment”.
“To the astonishment of the whole world, we had succeeded in overcoming centuries of bitterness, conflict, repression and division,” he said.
Zakhele Mbhele, spokesman for the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said, on Sunday, that South Africa is an infinitely more just, humane, and peaceful place to live today than twenty years ago.
“Our divided history means that the transition from apartheid to democracy was less the stuff of a miracle, and more the product of hard work, skilful negotiation, and the insight of the small group of exceptional leaders who united the country and led from the front.”
”Today we remember the giant of that group, Nelson Mandela. We remember his selflessness, his incorruptibility, his deep personal commitment to a united South Africa, and his efforts to extend opportunities to those who had been denied them in the past,” he said.
Not surprisingly, the global statesman remains in the spotlight, despite the fact that he died four months ago.
Mandela’s old friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu sparked an outcry by saying he is glad Mandela and other freedom fighters are not alive to witness the slow pace of transformation in South Africa.
“I’m glad that Madiba (Mandela’s clan name) is dead. I’m glad that most of these people are no longer alive to see this,” Tutu said.
Photo: Npr
