Africa Archives
South Africa: the “Rainbow Nation” on the march (11&12)
New South African President Nelson Mandela shakes hands with former President Frederik de Klerk in Cape Town in 1994. © Star Tribune via Getty Images - Star Tribune via Getty Images
By: Alain Foka Follow
On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first black president of a unified South Africa.
At his side, two vice-presidents: Thabo Mbeki and Frederik De Klerk.
If the international community welcomes this change, nothing is easy internally.
Very quickly, the various components of the government no longer manage to agree.
In August 1996, De Klerk resigned, considering that the interests of the white minority were no longer guaranteed in the new Constitution.
South Africa
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F. De Klerk: in South Africa, the first free and multiracial elections (9&10)
Africa Archives
Frederik De Klerk, president of a South Africa on the verge of implosion
South Africa pays national tribute to former President Frederik de Klerk