A referendum on ending apartheid was held in South Africa on 17 March 1992.
The referendum was limited to white South African voters, who were asked whether they supported the negotiated reforms begun by State President F. W. de Klerk two years earlier, in which he proposed to end the apartheid system that had been implemented since 1948.
The result of the election was a large victory for the "yes" side, which ultimately resulted in apartheid being lifted. Universal suffrage was introduced two years later.
On 2 February 1990, in his opening address to parliament, State President F. W. de Klerk announced that the ban on certain political parties such as the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party would be lifted and that Nelson Mandela would be released after 27 years in prison.
De Klerk announced that capital punishment would be suspended and that the state of emergency would be lifted. The State President said in his speech to parliament that the time to negotiate has arrived.
Nelson Mandela was released on 11 February 1990 from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl near Cape Town.
On 21 March 1990, South West Africa became independent under the name of Namibia. In May the government began talks with the ANC. In June the state of emergency was lifted and the ANC had agreed to a ceasefire.
In 1991, the Acts which restricted land ownership, specified separate living areas and classified people by race were abolished.
More information: AMANDLA
Prior to the referendum, the governing National Party had lost three by-elections since announcing negotiations to end apartheid two years earlier, and its position was opposed by the Conservative Party which opposed the negotiations and boycotted the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA).
On 24 January 1992, President de Klerk opened parliament and suggested that a referendum would be held, in which the vote of each race group would be counted separately. When the National Party was defeated in the Potchefstroom by-election on 19 February, after calling it a test vote, its credibility was placed in doubt.
In the meantime, negotiations between the government and the African National Congress were making slow progress. Violence was increasing in the South African townships, different right wing groups were becoming more prominent, and there was growing dissatisfaction within the white community. Conditions and the mood in the black townships was worsening as well. The government was thus under domestic and international pressure to make progress in the negotiations.
While the Conservative Party claimed that the government did not have the mandate to negotiate with the ANC after its defeat in Potchefstroom, State President F. W. de Klerk announced 20 February, that a national referendum for the white electorate would be held to test the government's -and his own- support: if the referendum's outcome had been negative, de Klerk would have resigned and general elections held.
When de Klerk initially announced the referendum, many were critical of the fact that only whites had the right to vote in the referendum.
The day after the referendum President de Klerk said Today we have closed the book on apartheid as he celebrated his 56th birthday. Nelson Mandela said that he was very happy indeed. The Cape Times news bill was dominated by the large text YES, IT'S YES!.
More information: South African History Online
The alliance between the Conservative Party and the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging may have harmed the CP and in some cases even scared away voters to the "Yes" side. Some conservative and militant defenders of apartheid boycotted the referendum, although turnout was at record levels, reaching above 96% in some areas.
De Klerk and his government could now claim that the whites were in favour of universal suffrage and that they had a clear mandate to negotiate with the African National Congress.
The ANC had initially disapproved the referendum, mainly because whites were the only ones allowed to vote. But since a "No" vote would not only risk the negotiations but also increase the political chaos in the country, and had no real reason to advocate that the whites oppose the negotiations, the ANC advocated a "Yes" vote.
Right-wing groups criticized the referendum and accused the government of electoral fraud. They had lost where they had previously been the strongest, in the Afrikaner heartland and in the big cities.
However, no evidence has ever been put forward regarding electoral irregularities. Treurnicht claimed that media propaganda, foreign intervention, threats by businesspeople against employees, and electoral fraud had resulted in a "Yes" vote.
On 27 April 1994, South Africa held its first non-racial elections, which resulted in a huge victory for the African National Congress and made Nelson Mandela the first black President of South Africa.
More information: TRT World
I was born in South Africa during apartheid,
a system of laws that made it illegal for people
to mix in South Africa.
And this was obviously awkward because
I grew up in a mixed family.
My mother's a black woman,
South African Xhosa woman...
and my father's Swiss, from Switzerland.
Trevor Noah
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