State President of South Africa in 1961, most non-South African sources had referred to the State President as simply the "President". The leader of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was sworn in as President on 10 May 1994. There is one living former South African State President: State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa () was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1961, and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be monarch of South Africa. The position of Governor-General of South Africa
Star of South Africa, Grand Officer State President became the Fount of Honour, and in 1994 the President. Civil honours were gradually introduced from May 1967. They were revised in the 1980s and in 1986 a Chancery of Orders was established in the Office of the State President, after 1994 named The Presidency, to administer most of them. Most of these honours remained in use after 1994, until an entirely new honours system was introduced in December 2002. The military Order of the Star of South Africa, established in 1975 and conferred on general and flag officers in two classes, was named after the first large