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CIAO DATE: 04/04
Hope at the End of the Rainbow
In April 1994, South Africans celebrated the end of apartheid by finally voting in free, multiracial elections. The apartheid system that had so disfigured and isolated the country was brought down with remarkably little bloodshed.
A decade later, the democratic transformation continues with remarkable ease—South Africans will head to the polls again in 2004, as they did in 1994 and 1999, to vote in democratic elections for the presidency and National Assembly. Yet, as then President Nelson Mandela declared in his inaugural address in May 1994, "there is no easy road to freedom". Indeed, as the indicators below demonstrate, South Africa remains a country in transition.
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Political, Social, and Economic Indicators |
Apartheid (1991) |
Democracy (2001) |
Illiteracy (as a percentage of population) |
18.0 |
14.0 |
Women holding seats in the National Assembly (as a percentage of total) |
3.0* |
30.0 |
Personal computers (per 100 people) |
0.7* |
7.0 |
Fixed-line telephones and mobile subscribers (per 100 people) |
9.4* |
35.3 |
Internet users (per 100 people) |
0.0 |
6.5 |
Pass rate of Grade 12 exams (as a percentage of total test-takers) |
72.0 |
62.0 |
HIV/AIDS prevalence (as a percentage of population) |
1.7 |
24.8 |
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) |
45.0 |
56.0 |
Population growth rate (percentage) |
2.0 |
1.0 |
Life expectancy at birth (in years) |
63 |
47 |
Urban population (as a percentage of total) |
50.0 |
58.0 |
Dependency ratio (percent of population under 15 and over 65) |
70.0 |
60.0 |
U.N. Human Development Indicator rank (lower number indicates higher development) |
57 |
94 |
Exchange rate (South African rands per U.S. dollar) |
2.59* |
8.61 |
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (in U.S. dollars) |
3250 |
2600 |
GDP growth (annual in percentage terms) |
-1.0 |
3.0 |
Trade (as a percentage of GDP) |
43.0* |
52.7 |
Political freedom (on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being the least free) |
5 (partly free) |
1 (free) |
Civil liberties (on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being the least free) |
4 (partly free) |
2 (free) |
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*=end of 1990 |
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