Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as democratic president

A bomb near ANC offices killed at least nine people during a far-right campaign intended to disrupt the election.

Elderly, disabled, hospitalized and election personnel voted before the main polling day, beginning the formal transfer to majority rule.

For the first time, adult citizens of every racial classification voted together for a national government after centuries of colonialism and apartheid.

With about 62.6 percent of the vote, the ANC became the leading party in a Government of National Unity.

The newly elected democratic parliament chose Mandela as president, with Thabo Mbeki and F. W. de Klerk as deputy presidents.