A large number of international leaders attended the inauguration because it was a historic event that marked the installation of South Africa's first democratic, non-racial government.  It symbolized the end of apartheid, a system of racial domination that had been overturned forever and replaced by a government that recognized the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin. The day was a common victory for all those who had fought for justice, and it marked the beginning of a new era in South Africa's history.