South Africa's first democratic elections, 27 April 1994.

Why this matters here

South African History Online’s chronology of South Africa’s first democratic elections on 27 April 1994 records universal adult suffrage voting and Nelson Mandela’s subsequent election and inauguration as president. When Others Become Leaders treats the ballot as a small object asked to carry enormous meaning—truth about what happened without letting that past forever determine what people can do next. The source establishes the electoral event; the book asks how reconciliation relates to leadership that neither denies harm nor freezes identity around it.