1994 South African general election
South Africans vote in the first national election under universal adult suffrage
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗Printed ballot papers had to be altered by hand with stickers after the Inkatha Freedom Party entered the election only days before voting.
27 April 1994: one common voters' roll
South Africans of every race voted together on a common national voters' roll on 27 April 1994, the principal polling day of the country's first democratic, non-racial national election.
Voters chose party lists for a 400-seat National Assembly and for nine provincial legislatures. They did not directly elect Nelson Mandela president.
Stickers, shortages and a four-day poll
Most of the electorate voted on 27 April in a generally peaceful, festive atmosphere, although shortages and late delivery of ballots and other materials disrupted some polling stations across the more than 9,000 sites.
Because of logistical and political difficulties, voting was extended through 29 April in six of the nine provinces.
The result came in May
The Independent Electoral Commission announced the final outcome on 6 May: 19,533,498 valid votes, with the ANC taking 12,237,655 votes and 62.65% for 252 of 400 seats, the National Party 20.39% and 82 seats, and the Inkatha Freedom Party 10.54% and 43 seats.
The ANC's 252 seats left it fifteen short of two-thirds in the National Assembly. Parliament elected Mandela president on 9 May, and he was inaugurated on 10 May.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 3 audit passes
How this was checked
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What the sources leave uncertain
- 27 April is the official commemorative date and principal polling day, but the election was a multi-day operation: special voting began on 26 April, ordinary voting occurred from 27 April, and voting was extended to 29 April in six provinces.
- Published totals differ slightly among later summaries. The figures here follow the reproduced 1994 national-results table hosted by South African History Online.