Seventeen years ago South Africans stood in meandering queues throughout the country waiting patiently to vote in our first one-man, one-vote election. For black South Africans the election was the fulfilment of their dream of political rights, of equality and of human dignity. For the ANC 27 April brought the tantalising prospect of imminent power; of ‘amandla'; of a brave new age in which they would be able to sweep away all the injustices of the past.
Most whites waited in the long queues with a sense of trepidation - tinged with a frisson of excitement. Reassured by Nelson Mandela and F W de Klerk, they hoped for the best - but prepared for the worst. Many had hoarded groceries - and others were thinking of emigration.
What have the intervening years brought?
Everyone now enjoys the benefits of living in a free society; of being able to vote in elections, of being able to say what they like and go where they want. Everyone enjoys the full spectrum of human rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution.
About 10% of black South Africans have done really well: they have moved into government jobs or into well-paid positions in the private sector. Another 25%, comprising unionised workers, have entrenched themselves behind rigid labour laws and are enjoying the inflated wages and benefits assured by COSATU. 15 million now subsist on government handouts.
However, many others have not done so well. 40% of black South Africans are unemployed. 2.8 million of the people standing in the voting queues of 1994 - or their friends and children - have died of AIDS since then. This is at least 300 000 more than the number who would have died, had the Mbeki presidency not descended into AIDS denialism. Another 300 000 people - or their friends of children - have been murdered since 1994.