Mandela’s Eventful Year

Here are some highlights of Nelson Mandela’s first year as president of South Africa. He was inaugurated on May 10, 1994.

* May 11, 1994: Mandela unveils a 30-member, multi-party “rainbow” Cabinet for the government of national unity.

* May 24: He launches the government’s ambitious reconstruction and development program in a keynote state-of-the-nation address to open the Parliament.

* June 1: South Africa rejoins the Commonwealth as its 51st member, ending a 33-year estrangement.

* June 13: Mandela is appointed second vice chairman of the Organization of African Unity at its conference in Tunis.

* July 4: France’s President Francois Mitterrand becomes the first foreign leader to address the South African Parliament since 1960.

* Oct. 3: Mandela addresses the 49th United Nations General Assembly in New York. During his state visit to the United States, he meets with President Clinton and addresses a joint session of Congress.

* Nov. 15: Mandela signs the Land Restitution Bill, the first major piece of legislation aimed at undoing the wrongs of apartheid.

* Dec. 17: He is reelected as head of the African National Congress at a party conference in Bloemfontein.

* Jan. 20, 1995: After a bitter argument at a Cabinet meeting over the former regime’s attempts to grant near-blanket immunity to police, Mandela and Deputy President Frederik W. de Klerk patch up their quarrel. Mandela pledges a “fresh start,” and De Klerk promises to stay within the government.

* Feb. 10: Mandela and 1,200 other former political prisoners attend an emotional reunion on Robben Island.

* March 20: He hosts Queen Elizabeth II on a six-day state visit.

* March 27: Mandela fires his estranged wife, Winnie, as a deputy minister for insubordination. She is later reinstated on a legal technicality, but he quickly fires her again. She resigns hours before the second dismissal takes effect.