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JOHANNESBURG (AP) "How can you describe falling in love?"

That is how retired archbishop Desmond Tutu this week recalled voting in South Africa's first all-race elections on April 27, 1994, an exultant moment when the nation's majority blacks and other oppressed groups broke the shackles of white rule.

But as South Africa marks the 20th anniversary of multiracial democracy on Sunday, the achievements and soaring expectations of what was dubbed a "rainbow nation" have been tempered by a different inequality the yawning gulf between rich and poor.

This uneven narrative will shape elections on May 7 likely to see the ruling African National Congress which led the fight against apartheid and has dominated politics since its demise return to power with a smaller majority, reflecting a growing discontent with the party.

One election candidate is Julius Malema, the expelled head of the ANC's youth league and now leader of an upstart party that wants to redistribute wealth. Malema, who wears a red beret on the campaign trail, has criticized the government as elitist, saying real freedom will only come when the poor own a fair share of the land.

Despite notable gaps in service, South Africa has delivered housing, water and electricity to millions since 1994 and boasts a widely admired constitution and an active civil society, but struggles with high unemployment, one of the world's highest rates of violent crime and is still working through issues of race and identity.

"It's nice to celebrate that we are here," said Gundo Mmbi, a student at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. But she said the 20th anniversary of democracy is also a time to reflect on the need for change in South Africa, citing "really crazy" corruption and a lack of opportunity for the poor.

"It's not just about your color anymore," she said "Discrimination has gone beyond."

South African officials will highlight gains of the last 20 years on Sunday at the Union Buildings, a government complex in Pretoria that was once the seat of white power. The government is launching a slick television ad that depicts neatly stacked shipping containers on a pier to symbolize South Africa's international trade, housing developments, gleaming infrastructure such as the high-speed Gautrain transit system, and SKA, an international project to build a radio telescope, based in South Africa and Australia, that will observe the sky.

It all falls under the official slogan: "South Africa A Better Place to live in."

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South African Democracy Marks 20th Anniversary