South Africa’s last apartheid-era President FW De Klerk dies at 85
De Klerk shared 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela for ending oppressive apartheid system
South Africa’s last apartheid-era president, Frederik Willem de Klerk, has died at the age of 85, his foundation announced Thursday.
“It is with the deepest sadness that the FW de Klerk Foundation announces that former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye (Cape Town) earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer,” the foundation said in a statement.
De Klerk, who served as president from September 1989 to May 1994, is known for playing a key role in dismantling the white oppressive system of apartheid. He shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela.
He announced the release of the late first Black President Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 after serving 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid, leading to multiparty elections that saw Mandela’s African National Congress party win the polls in 1994.
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De Klerk is survived by his wife Elita, and children Jan and Susan, as well as his grandchildren.
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