Last president of apartheid South Africa, FW de Klerk, dies aged 85

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FW de Klerk, the last president of apartheid South Africa, has died at the age of 85.

“Former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer,” a statement from his foundation said.

He was diagnosed in March with the disease, which affects the tissue lining the lungs.

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FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize

As head of state from 1989 to 1994, Mr de Klerk oversaw the end of South Africa’s white minority rule.

He and his government dismantled the apartheid system of institutionalised racial segregation and introduced voting rights for black South Africans.

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In a 1990 speech that made history, he announced he was releasing anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years and lifting the ban on opposition parties like the African National Congress.

Mr de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Mandela in 1993, but his role in the transition to democracy remains a source of controversy.

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Many blamed him for violence against black South Africans and anti-apartheid campaigners during his reign.

After multi-party elections were held in 1994, Mr Mandela won the presidency and Mr de Klerk became one of two deputy presidents in a “National Unity Government”.

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Mr de Klerk lost the 1994 election to Mr Mandela

Mr de Klerk had kept the decision to release Mr Mandela a closely-guarded secret, fearing a leak and backlash from right-wing white South Africans.

When Mr de Klerk celebrated his 70th birthday in 2006, Mr Mandela praised his predecessor for taking that plunge into the political unknown.

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Mr Mandela attended Mr de Klerk’s 70th birthday celebrations

“You have shown courage that few have done in similar circumstances,” he said.

Mr Mandela wrote in his autobiography that nothing in Mr de Klerk’s past “seemed to hint at the spirit of reform”.

After beginning his parliamentary career in 1972, Mr de Klerk had spent years as a minister overseeing a schooling system that spent 10 times more on white children than black children.

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Mr de Klerk played an integral role in ending the apartheid system

His negotiations with Mr Mandela on a peaceful transition were held amid mounting political violence, with critics saying Mr de Klerk was too cautious in tackling right-wing security forces suspected of instigating conflict.

He retired from active politics in 1997 and later apologised for the pain and humiliation of apartheid.

“History has shown that as far as the policy of apartheid was concerned, our former leaders were deeply mistaken in the
course upon which they embarked,” he said.

ANALYSIS BY JOHN SPARKS, AFRICA CORRESPONDENT

A member of a prominent Afrikaner family, Mr de Klerk vigorously supported apartheid, a system of racial segregation which benefited white South Africans.

When he replaced PW Botha the head of the ruling National Party in 1989, the public expected him to continue to defend apartheid.

However, in a speech to parliament in February 1990 he would shock the nation and the rest of the world when he announced that he would release Nelson Mandela from prison and lift the ban on opposition parties like Mr Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC).

Amid gasps, several members of parliament members left the chamber as he spoke.

Nine days after his speech Mandela walked free.

Accused of betrayal by some white South Africans, his actions helped bring an end to the country’s international isolation and paved the way to Mr Mandela’s election victory in 1994 with black South Africans participating in the poll for the first time.

By then, Mr de Klerk and Mr Mandela had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their often-tense cooperation in moving South Africa away from institutionalised racism and toward democracy.

FW de Klerk’s role in South Africa’s political transition is rarely celebrated and he has been criticised for qualifying his criticisms of apartheid.

There are many in South Africa who say his role is overplayed and over-credited but the former president did bow to this inevitable change.