The founding elections

The NP and the ANC had agreed that the electoral system for both national and provincial elections should be based on a list system of proportional representation. This had the advantage of simplicity and of enabling minority parties to obtain some representation. The details of the system were set out in Schedule 2 of the interim constitution: the National Assembly was to consist of 400 members, 200 of whom would be elected from national lists submitted by registered parties, and 200 from provincial lists. Pressure from the Democratic Party led to an amendment requiring separate ballot papers for the national and provincial elections. 

An unavoidable weakness was the absence of voters’ rolls for the 1994 election because there was insufficient time to compile them. Instead, eligible voters were required to produce an identity document – which millions did not possess. Accordingly, the IEC was empowered to issue temporary voting cards. Its statistics showed that by 29 April over 3.5 million such cards had been issued, nearly 1.5 million during the four voting days. It was obviously a system liable to abuse since many applicants were unable to provide proof that they were at least 18 years old.

The election was held over three days, 26–28 April, and extended to 29 April in six areas that had been seriously affected by logistical problems. The challenges facing the IEC were formidable. The magnitude of the task is conveyed by some of the statistics: an estimated 22.7 million people were eligible to vote (according to the dubious figures in the 1992 census), for which 10 000 voting stations were required. 

The problem of violence haunted the country. There were reports of housewives stockpiling food in case there was a general breakdown of law and order. The IEC was especially worried by the possibility of intimidation: research reports before the election suggested that there were 165 ‘no-go’ areas across the country. But the worst did not happen. The IEC’s official account of the elections said that ‘the incidence of frustration of political activity was minimal and that the degree of election violence was negligible throughout the country’. That there were irregularities is undoubted. De Klerk claimed, plausibly, that as many as one million illegal votes were cast, mostly because towards the end of the election, temporary voting cards were being issued virtually on request.

Yet the first elections had proceeded remarkably peacefully.

The election result