Former Nobel peace winner and former SA president FW de Klerk dies

Former South African president and Nobel peace prize winner, FW de Klerk has died at the age of 85.

De Klerk died at his home in Fresnaye in Cape Town in the early hours of Thursday (November 11) due to cancer-related illness.

The late De Klerk served as president for South Africa from September 1989 until May 1994, overseeing the end of the Apartheid era.

The FW de Klerk Foundation announced De Klerk’s death on Thursday.

“It is with the deepest sadness that the FW de Klerk Foundation must announce that [De Klerk] died peacefully at his home.

“He lost the fight against mesothelioma cancer.

“He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren,” the statement read.

The family will, in due course, make an announcement regarding funeral arrangements.

The foundation was established in 1999 to promote the causes for which FW de Klerk had worked during his presidency.

It has no party political affiliation and promotes the full spectrum of rights, values and principles in the constitution. It adopts a consensus-seeking, non-confrontational style and attempts – wherever possible – to achieve its goals through discussion and persuasion.

Social media users had mixed reactions on De Klerk’s passing:

I think what's unfortunate about FW De Klerk's passing is that he not only never stood trial for his actions & the actions he authorised, but he also demonstrated several times over that he hadn't learned anything in the time that has passed since he served the apartheid regime.

— Robyn Porteous (@RobynPorteous) November 11, 2021

RIP FW de Klerk. The South African leader who freed Nelson Mandela and subsequently shared the Nobel Peace Prize with him. He was 85 pic.twitter.com/uAkcDsfH4P

— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) November 11, 2021