Whenever you read up on South Africa you are bound to bump into the phrases such as: "since 1994", "after 1994", "before 1994", etc. If you are unfamiliar with South African history this may leave you rather confused. 1994 is the year in which South Africa's first fully democratic general election took place. It is the election that installed Nelson Mandela as the first black President of South Africa and signaled the death of Apartheid. It represents an absolute watershed in South African society, a paradigm shift from politics and policies based on racial segregation and discrimination to one of human rights, equal opportunities and equality before the law.