The lines often snaked as far as the naked eye could see. In small towns across the countryside and in the crowded townships where Black South Africans lived outside of big cities, millions of people waited patiently to do something that had once seemed unthinkable.
Over the course of four days in April 1994, some 17 million Black South Africans voted for the first time.
One of them was Thomas Lethiba, 24, a Black South African in Soweto.
“We’ve been waiting five hours,” he told a reporter. “But other people have been waiting 40 years.”
For decades, Black South Africans had lived under a brutal system of racial segregation known as apartheid. In a country that was 70 percent Black,
a White minority ruled for much of the 20th century, denying Black people basic political rights and essentially treating them like outsiders in their own land.
Now the country was holding its first-ever multiracial free election.
Millions of people waited patiently to do something that had once seemed impossible. Black South Africans waited in small towns and crowded townships outside of big cities. The lines were long.
For four days in April 1994, some 17 million Black South Africans voted for the first time.
One of them was Thomas Lethiba, 24, who lived in Soweto.
“We’ve been waiting five hours,” he told a reporter. “But other people have been waiting 40 years.”
For decades, Black South Africans had lived under a brutal system of racial segregation known as apartheid. Although South Africa was 70 percent Black and was ruled by a White minority for much of the 20th century. They denied Black people basic political rights and treated them like outsiders in their country.
Now the country was holding its first-ever multiracial free election.