In 1994, after years of oppression by white minority rule, South Africa became a constitutional democracy elected by the people. In fact, the 1994 elections were the first democratic elections in South Africa where the majority of the population, particularly Black Africans, had a say in the government and running of the country. Prior to 1994, the country held racially exclusive elections that did not include the vast majority of the population. South Africa's first democratic election in 1994 stood as a political turning point in the country's history. It signalled the end of apartheid rule and the beginning of a long road of rebuilding a society devastated by political conflict, economic exploitation, and social disintegration.
             From 1948 until April 26, 1994, the National Party, which was largely White, ruled South Africa. One of the main political principles publicized by the National Party was the policy of apartheid, literally translated as separateness. This meant that the South African government grouped the people of South Africa into four racial groups, namely Blacks, Coloreds (meaning mixed race), Indians, and Whites. Initially, the aim of apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Race laws touched every aspect of social life. For example, not only was marriage prohibited between whites and non-whites, but also the Immorality Act forbade any sexual contact between blacks and whites. In addition, certain jobs were classified as for whites only.
             South Africa, under diplomatic pressure from the US and the European Community, had two liberal democratic constitutions drafted during the nineties dismantling the policy of apartheid; the so-called Interim Constitution of 1993, and the final constitution of the republic, adopted in 1996. Both documents brought an end to three hundred years of colonialism and four decades of apartheid.
             The republic of South Africa...