Under a sunny African sky and before the eyes of the world, Nelson Mandela solemnly vowed Tuesday to execute his duties as president, climaxing the most remarkable two weeks in the country’s history and heralding a final end to its long journey toward freedom.
“I, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, do hereby swear to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa,” he recited in the stilted, formal manner for which he is famous, concluding a personal odyssey by one of the world’s most remarkable men that took him from a prison cell to the presidency.
It was a final gesture in an emotional and above all peaceful two weeks. It began with a stampede to the polls by millions of first-time voters April 27 and ended Tuesday with pomp and ceremony on the steps of Pretoria’s Union Buildings, the seat of white minority rule through the 20th Century and now of the new government, democratically elected and black dominated.
Underlining the miracle of reconciliation that the transition to democracy turned out to be, Mandela then made another solemn pledge Tuesday to the nation in his first official speech as president: To turn South Africa’s ethnic and racial diversity into a “rainbow nation.”
“We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans, black and white, will be able to walk tall without fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity-a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world,” he told the gathering.
“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will experience the oppression of one by another,” he added to tumultuous applause.
Despite the occasion’s solemnity, it was a festive ceremony as bright with promise for the future of the country as it was with color, music, singing and international dignitaries.
The guest list read like a Who’s Who of the world. Vice President Al Gore, First Lady Hillary Clinton, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Britain’s Prince Philip were among the range of visitors from 150 countries who flew in for the biggest party South Africa has ever seen.
They later lunched on ostrich and crocodile while tens of thousands of ordinary people gathered on the lawns below the building for a daylong concert of music and dancing.
In contrast to the European-style sobriety to which the seat of government has been accustomed, this was a thoroughly African affair. Women wore brightly colored African dresses, African bands played African music and guests sang African songs. And it all started, in true African tradition, an hour late.
But after a lifetime of waiting, no one seemed to mind.
As recently as a month ago, fears were high that bloodshed would eclipse the promise of freedom. But like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, the fragments of South Africa’s divided society fell into place just in time for the election, holding out real hope that the new democracy-forged amid bloodshed and suspicion-will work.
And at Tuesday’s inaugural ceremony, it seemed the “rainbow nation” already was beginning to form, on the steps of a building that heretofore had symbolized the immutability of white minority rule.
Mandela was escorted to his bulletproof podium by the country’s top white army generals. Resplendent in their uniforms, they saluted their new commander in chief, banishing doubts about the loyalties of the white security forces.
The South African air force made a spectacular flyover, underlining the new military might at Mandela’s command.
A 21-gun salute was fired in honor of the new president by soldiers of an army that once turned their guns on his supporters in the townships.
Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi was there, with King Goodwill Zwelithini by his side. Both had threatened to bring the country to the brink of civil war over their demands for Zulu sovereignty, and their belated decision to join the election process allowed voting to go ahead without violence.
Embarrassment was averted when Joe Modise, the former ANC guerrilla leader and now defense minister, noted that the royal Zulu delegation had been given humiliatingly remote seats.
He reshuffled the seating arrangements to give Buthelezi and the Zulu king a front row, center stage view.
“I’m very happy. This is a wonderful day,” Buthelezi said after watching his former adversary sworn in as president.
Former Cabinet ministers of the apartheid regime mingled freely with those who were about to assume high office. But by far the majority of those in attendance were veterans of the struggle against apartheid, those who once were tortured, jailed, hunted down and exiled by the former government. They took their seats at the ceremony as members of the new political elite that will govern the country.
Also sworn in were Mandela’s two deputy presidents, Thabo Mbeki, the African National Congress chairman, and former President F.W. de Klerk, who stood respectfully behind his new leader as Mandela presented the triumverate that will lead the country.
Mandela, whose attacks on De Klerk continued until election day, dropped his hostility and paid glowing tribute to his former enemy. De Klerk’s role as deputy president in sustaining white acceptance of the new order will be crucial to the government’s success.
“He has carved out a niche for himself in South African history because he has turned out to be one of the greatest reformers, one of the greatest sons of our soil,” Mandela told the crowd after the ceremony.
Later, at the luncheon, he reminded the guests of his former clashes with De Klerk. “He was one of those who gave us a hard time,” he said of De Klerk.
But, he added, “we have forgotten the past. We said a lot of unkind things about one another during the elections but we have fought a good fight, and now is the time to put together the broken pieces of our country.”
Reconciliation was the theme at every step of the proceedings. De Klerk mouthed awkardly the words to “Nkosi Sikelel’i Afrika,” formerly the anthem of the struggle against apartheid and now one of two official anthems of the new republic.
Mandela stood with his hand across his heart, Afrikaner-style, as the second anthem, “Die Stem,” a symbol of the old era, was played.
Mandela, who does not speak Afrikaans, nonetheless attempted a few words in what was once regarded as the language of the oppressor.
“Let us forget the past,” he said. “Let bygones be bygones.”
The day was declared a nationwide holiday. Across the country, citizens watched the proceedings live on TV, and held celebrations at home.
If there was a shadow over the event, it was the thick bulletproof glass behind which Mandela took his vows, and the bulletproof glass box from which he addressed the crowd after the ceremony.
The glass made Mandela, who prides himself on being a man of the people, look as though he had been frozen in an ice block. But it also served as a chilling reminder that there are still a few dangerous right wingers who remain unreconciled to change.
They will pose a continuing threat to the stability of the new nation that nonetheless heralded its arrival into the world Tuesday with hope and peace.
