South Africa held its first all-race elections for local and national governments. Millions waited in lines to cast their ballot over the three-day voting period. Almost 20 million votes were counted.

Nelson Mandela would go on to win the country's first democratic presidential election, becoming the nation’s first Black president. For decades, Mandela and his African National Congress party crusaded for equal rights for Blacks disenfranchised by the white-ruled apartheid government. As president, Mandela, who was famously imprisoned for 27 years by the South African government, established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995 to investigate crimes committed under the apartheid rule and launched initiatives to improve the living standards of Blacks in South Africa. He retired from politics in 1999.

BET Global News - Your source for Black news from around the world, including international politics, health and human rights, the latest celebrity news and more. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.  

(Photo:  Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)