11th November, 2021
President Frederik Willem De Klerk, the last white minority president of South Africa is dead. He was 85.
His death, linked with cancer was announced today by his foundation.
‘Former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer,’ the statement from his foundation said.
“He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren.
“The family will, in due course, make an announcement regarding funeral arrangements.”
De Klerk oversaw the end of the white minority rule, freed Nelson Mandela and other apartheid regime prisoners.
He also negotiated the shape of democratic South Africa, where majority Africans took over power.
The African legend, Nelson Mandela succeeded de Klerk as South Africa’s first black president in 1994.
De Klerk and Mandela also shared Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.