THE FW de Klerk Foundation has announced that the cremation and funeral for last apartheid president FW de Klerk will take place on Sunday, 21 November 2021.
De Klerk died at the age of 85 at his home in Cape Town on Thursday after a long battle with cancer.
The funeral, according to the foundation, will be a private ceremony for family members and will not be open to media.
“It is with the deepest sadness that the FW de Klerk Foundation must announce that former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer. Mr De Klerk was 85 years old. He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren,” according to a statement by the FW de Klerk Foundation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said he and the government were saddened over the death of de Klerk.
De Klerk had played a “key role in ushering in democracy” in the country, Ramaphosa said, expressing his condolences to the former president’s family.
“I offer my sincerest condolences to his wife, Elita, his children Jan and Susan, and his grandchildren. My thoughts are also with Mr de Klerk’s friends and associates and the management and staff of the FW de Klerk Foundation.”
Ramaphosa said while de Klerk was a leader of a party that was “vastly discredited” in relation of the role the party played in enforcing apartheid, he played a vital role in South Africa’s transition to democracy in the 1990s, which originated from his first meeting in 1989 with President Nelson Mandela who was a political prisoner at that stage.
“He took the courageous decision to unban political parties, release political prisoners and enter into negotiations with the liberation movement amid severe pressure to the contrary from many in his political constituency. The Deputy President was a committed South African who embraced the democratic constitutional dispensation and placed the long-term future of the country ahead of narrow political interests,” said Ramaphosa.
“Serving as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996, Mr de Klerk played an important role in the Government of National Unity, dedicating himself to the constitutional imperative of healing the divisions and conflict of our past.
“Deputy President de Klerk’s passing, weeks before the 25th anniversary of our democratic Constitution, should inspire all of us to reflect on the birth of our democracy and on our shared duty to remain true to the values of our Constitution.”
In a joint statement, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces the Chairperson Amos Masondo said although de Klerk “espoused controversial and polarising views regarding the legacy of the system of Apartheid”, he played a role in paving the way for democratic reforms in the country.
“While it is sad that he subsequently missed the opportunity to cement this legacy by failing to fully recognise and appreciate the devastation the system of apartheid caused to millions of South Africans, history will remember his foresight in realising that Apartheid had become untenable and its fall was inevitable, and his contribution in laying the foundation for the new South Africa,” Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo said.
