Let De Klerk rest – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appealed to those who like and those who dislike former president FW de Klerk to “let him rest”, saying he was “born of the African soil”. The president spoke just after De Klerk’s wife, Elita. She said her husband was “very often misunderstood” but “a committed parent to the new country… My love for him will keep him by my side”.

Ramaphosa defended the state-sponsored memorial service, although “we can neither ignore nor must we ever seek to dismiss the anger, the pain and the disappointment of those who recall the place FW de Klerk occupied in the hierarchy of an oppressive state”.

But Ramaphosa critic and a leading light among the radical economic transformation forces Carl Niehaus described the memorial service as a “disgrace” and “outrageous of Ramaphosa to deliver the eulogy”. He said: “It’s callous and a middle finger to all De Klerk’s victims. This eulogy will remain a blood-spattered millstone around his neck, defining his legacy.”

In delivering the eulogy, Ramaphosa said De Klerk was accorded the state memorial service as a former deputy president, but it was recognised his contribution and legacy remained contested. He emphasised the damage apartheid had done to the black majority but said during the pre- 1994 constitutional negotiations, De Klerk had displayed the courage of his convictions.

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“Even in moments of difficulty, at times when we were close to the brink, I found him to be courteous, respectful and committed.” He made a brave act to unban political organisations and release Nelson Mandela and others from jail Ramaphosa said the country was yet to reach the end of our journey towards a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, prosperous- ous and free South Africa.

“It should not and cannot be that the task of bringing about reconciliation rests squarely on the shoulders of those who were oppressed. It is the responsibility and the duty of us all, black and white,” he said.

“Ending the racism that is still prevalent in our society, doing away with discrimination in all its forms and building a united nation takes hard work and it takes acts of courage.”

He highlighted several instances that made De Klerk’s contribution to the constitutional order more significant: his presence at the signing of the new constitution in Sharpeville on 10 December 1996. was deeply significant.

“His presence was a measure of the changes that had taken place in our country in the passage of only a few years. Some of the relatives of the 69 people who were massacred at Sharpeville were also seated in the audience, together with FW de Klerk.

“It must have been a sombre moment for him. It must also have been a moment of deep reflection; it spoke of a journey that South Africans had traversed over many decades – a journey from the darkness of subjugation and exploitation and humiliation into the light of freedom, democracy and equal rights,” Ramaphosa said.

He lauded De Klerk, the last apartheid president, for making a statement that stood in stark contrast to the political ideology on which he had been raised and for which he had stood.

“Even as he entered into negotiations, he was fearful… “Even as he expressed his doubts about some parts of the constitution, he was prepared to acknowledge that it provided a foundation for a South Africa in which the rights and freedoms of all its people would be guaranteed,” Ramaphosa said.

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“The fact that it was the struggles of the South African masses that forced the perpetrators of apartheid to the negotiating table does not render their contribution any less significant, nor their pragmatism any less genuine.

They were prepared to put aside their differences and were ready to talk with their sworn enemies. “The path we followed – of negotiation over conflict, of reconciliation over recrimination – was in no small part thanks to the courage and the conviction of FW de Klerk,” Ramaphosa said. The service was attended by the De Klerk family, FW de Klerk Foundation chair David Stewart, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba and Deputy Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele. – ericn@citizen.co.za