South Africa on Sunday celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first ever all-race, democratic election that ended decades of sanctioned racial oppression under the apartheid system. The day will be marked by street parades, speeches, prayers, music and military salutes and displays. After the historic April 27, 1994, the day has been retained as a holiday and named Freedom Day.
President Jacob Zuma leads the main festivities at the Union Buildings, the seat of government in Pretoria, where generations of apartheid leaders penned many of the racial laws that South Africa's first black leader Nelson Mandela fought most of his life.
