Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 2 Rand 2004, KM# 334, South Africa, 10th Anniversary of the First Multiracial Elections
  • 2 Rand 2004, KM# 334, South Africa, 10th Anniversary of the First Multiracial Elections
Description

South African general election were held between 26 and 29 April 1994 and were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election marked the culmination of the four-year process that ended apartheid.

Millions queued in lines over a four-day voting period. As widely expected, the African National Congress (ANC) won a sweeping victory, taking 62 percent of the vote, just short of the two-thirds majority required to unilaterally amend the Interim Constitution. As required by that document, the ANC formed a Government of National Unity with the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party, the two other parties that won more than 20 seats in the National Assembly. The new National Assembly's first act was to elect Nelson Mandela as President, making him the country's first black chief executive.

The date 27 April is now a public holiday in South Africa, Freedom Day.

Obverse

New national coat of arms for South Africa (adopted on 27 April 2000), inscribed in a square. On both sides, the country name displayed in English, date above.

The Coat of Arms has many elements organized into two oval groups, one on top of the other. Together the two ovals create a symbol of infinity.

The Lower or Foundation Oval:
At the base is the motto "Diverse People Unite" written in the Khoisan language of the ǀXam people. On either side of the motto, pairs of elephant tusks. The tusks enclose two ears of wheat. At the centre is a shield. On the shield are depicted two Khoisan figures. The Khoisan are the oldest inhabitants of South Africa. The figures on the shield are based on the Linton Panel (a world-famous piece of rock art now housed in the South African Museum in Cape Town), and face each other in greeting and unity. Above the shield, a crossed spear and knobkierie (a traditional fighting stick) separate the lower oval from the upper oval.

The Upper or Ascendant Oval
At the centre is the South African National Flower, the King Protea. It is comprised of interlocking diamonds. The protea forms the chest of the secretary bird, whose head and wings stretch out above it. Between its wings, the rising sun.

Engraver: Arthur Sutherland

SOUTH 2004 AFRICA
!KE E: ǀXARRA ǁKE
ALS

Reverse

Depicts people brandishing the new flag adopted in 1994 by the new multiracial and national union government directed by Nelson Mandela.

The flag of South Africa was designed in March 1994 and adopted on 27 April 1994, at the beginning of South Africa's 1994 general election, to replace the flag that had been used since 1928. The new national flag, designed by the then State Herald of South Africa Frederick Brownell, was chosen to represent the country's new democracy after the end of apartheid.

The flag has horizontal bands of red (on the top) and blue (on the bottom), of equal width, separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal "Y" shape, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side (and follow the flag's diagonals). The "Y" embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes. The colours themselves have no essential meaning.

Engraver: M.J. Scheepers

10 YEARS OF FREEDOM
2
RAND
south africa 1994-2004
MJS

Edge

2 Rand

10th Anniversary of the First Multiracial Elections

KM# 334 Hern# Nh18 Schön# 369
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Nickel Plated Copper
Weight 5.5 g
Diameter 23 mm
Thickness 1.75 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
South African Mint (SA Mint)

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