
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994                   TAG: 9405030145
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press Note: lede
DATELINE: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOUTH AFRICA IS 'FREE AT LAST!'

Nelson Mandela proclaimed victory Monday in his lifetime crusade: a non- racial democracy for South Africa. As his supporters let loose in ecstatic celebration, the man elected as his nation's first black president declared, ``Free at last!''

``This is indeed a joyous night for the human spirit. This is your victory too,'' said the beaming 75-year-old leader. Supporters shrieked with joy in a hotel ballroom draped in the green, gold, and black colors of Mandela's African National Congress. Celebrations spilled over into the black districts of Soweto and Alexandra, where thousands of people danced in the streets.

Earlier, President F.W. de Klerk of the National Party acknowledged defeat in South Africa's first democratic elections. He praised Mandela as ``a man of destiny'' and pledged to work with him in the new government.

An ANC landslide was indisputable. With about 44 percent of the estimated 22.7 million votes counted, it had 62.6 percent to 23.7 percent for de Klerk's National Party. The Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party was a distant third with 6.2 percent, followed by the pro-apartheid Freedom Front, 2.8 percent.

The ANC was projected to win around 240 seats in the 400-seat Parliament, which will select Mandela as president Friday. On May 10, he will be inaugurated at a ceremony attended by world leaders.

Blacks and whites promised to forgive the past and build one nation. In a symbol of that remarkable spirit, ANC officials raised their glasses in a toast in honor of outgoing President de Klerk, incoming President Mandela and the ``new South Africa.''

by CNB