Freedom Day is a public holiday in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

celebrated on 27 April. It commemorates the first post-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

elections held on that day in 1994 and the day on which the new constitution was introduced. The elections were the first national elections where everyone of voting age of over 18 from any race group, was allowed to vote. It is one of the seventeen public holidays determined by the Public Holidays Act (No. 36 of 1994). On the first commemoration of the holiday, President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela addressed Parliament:

''As a new dawn ushered in this day, the 27th of April 1994, few of us could suppress the welling of emotion, as we were reminded of the terrible past from which we come as a nation; the great possibilities that we now have; and the bright future that beckons us. And so we assemble here today, and in other parts of the country, to mark a historic day in the life of our nation. Wherever South Africans are across the globe, our hearts beat as one, as we renew our common loyalty to our country and our commitment to its future.''

Freedom Day is an annual celebration held on 27 April in

. The day reminds South Africans of the immeasurable sacrifices made by individuals and nations to break them away from the chains of unjust segregation by a selected few. It reminds the of the efforts of their national heroes, particularly

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

. He is regarded as a champion of freedom, not only in South Africa but the entire world. It is a day that not only marks the emancipation of South Africans from apartheid but also returned their essential human rights in 1994.

References

{{South Africa Holidays April observances Society of South Africa Remembrance days National days Observances in South Africa Autumn in South Africa Suffrage 1994 establishments in South Africa Recurring events established in 1994

See also

References