At which school did Nelson Mandela cast his vote in South Africa’s first democratic national election?

Nelson Mandela cast his vote at Ohlange High School in South Africa’s first democratic national election.

The school is in Inanda, near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Mandela chose the historic site because Ohlange was founded by John Langalibalele Dube, a founding president of the African National Congress and an important early Black South African leader.

The 1994 election, held from 26 to 29 April, was South Africa’s first election open to citizens of all races. Mandela voted on 27 April, the election’s first day, and the date later became Freedom Day, a national public holiday.

The African National Congress won the election, and Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first Black president on 10 May 1994. A common mix-up is to associate Mandela’s first vote with Johannesburg or Robben Island; he cast it at Ohlange High School in the Durban area.