Now that the election is over, the real work begins - on South Africa's, and maybe the world's, biggest party ever.
Next Tuesday's inauguration of the country's first black president will be "simple and dignified" - just Nelson Mandela and about 150,000 of his closest friends, including Britain's Prince Philip, the Chinese president and, probably, Hillary Rodham Clinton.It's a politico's dream but a nightmare for the National Inauguration Committee. How, for example, does one get the Prince of Orange through rush-hour traffic from the airport to the 8 a.m. official breakfast 40 miles away?
What about security?
What if it rains?
"It won't," committee spokesman Patrick Evans said firmly as construction workers built a stage and seats Tuesday in the open-air amphitheater where Mandela, the leader of the African National Congress, will be inaugurated.
"The weather never gets bad in South Africa. If it rains, it'll rain in the late afternoon. It won't rain in the morning," predicted Evans.
The transfer of power to Mandela, who claimed victory Monday in South Africa's first all-race election, will be more than an inauguration. It will be South Africa's coming-out party after decades of apartheid-era isolation, when no foreign dignitary would be seen here.
Invitations to 188 governments and 23 organizations have been sent. As of Tuesday, more than 120 acceptances had been received, with more expected. Of the confirmed, 42 are heads of state and three are heads of government, presenting a security situation not seen before in South Africa.
Organizers say those sure to attend also include U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali; British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd; Israeli President Ezer Weizman; and the heir to the Dutch throne Willem Alexander, Prince of Orange.
They won't reveal the others who have accepted, but the list is likely to include U.S. Vice President Al Gore; the wife of President Bill Clinton; and Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a longtime supporter of Mandela's ANC.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
$600 million in aid
President Clinton Thursday praised South Africa's first post-apartheid government and announced a three-year, $600 million aid package, saying "we must not turn our backs" on the new multiracial democracy.
Clinton said South Africans who waited for hours in poll lines to vote last week had created a new nation "conceived in liberty and empowered by their redemptive suffering."
The package includes resources from 10 federal agencies aimed at promoting trade, aid and investment by the private sector in South Africa. Among its components is $528 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development to promote jobs and black business development, and provide education and health assistance.