As the country continues to share thoughts on the legacy of late former deputy president FW de Klerk, Lukanyo Calata, son of one of the Cradock 4 has expressed dismay that the former statesman took vital information about the killing of his father to his grave.
De Klerk died at his home in Cape Town from cancer. He was 85 years old.
“The death of former president FW de Klerk, is indeed sad. He takes the secrets and the truth about what he knew about the deaths of the Cradock 4 and many others to his grave with him. What he also does is, he robs us of the opportunity of finding out, who were some of those ANC leaders who had entered into informal deals with former apartheid operatives to prevent the prosecution of TRC cases”
The Fort Calata Foundation released a statement on Thursday evening following de Klerk’s passing earlier in the day.
The foundation has called on the NPA to expedite the prosecution of TRC cases “before more of those implicated in the apartheid atrocities dies without being held accountable for their crimes.”
RIP FW De Klerk | De Klerk takes secrets of murder of the Cradock 4 to his grave: Lukhanyo Calata
Earlier, the De Klerk Foundation released a video on social media in which de Klerk again apologises to South Africans for apartheid in an emotional last message.
In the clip, de Klerk apologises unreservedly for apartheid and acknowledges the hurt and wrongs caused by the system.
The last president of apartheid South Africa passed away this morning from a cancer that affected the lining of his lungs. He was 85.
He appears visibly frail in the pre-recorded video message.
The now-deceased elder statesman also thanked those who supported him during difficult times.
“On many occasions, I apologised for the pain and the indignity that apartheid brought to persons of colour in South Africa. Many believed me, but others didn’t. So, let me, therefore, today, in this last message repeat, I, without qualification, apologise for the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage that apartheid has done to black, browns and Indians in South Africa.”
FW De Klerk’s last words to South Africans:
President of the Pan African Congress Mzwanele Nyontsho has referred to de Klerk as the architect of a constitution that keeps Africans landless.
“Our hearts go with the families, the victims of de Klerk. We’re worried that de Klerk died without telling us who pulled the trigger in Umtata, Pendulo children. We’re just worried about them. We don’t care about de Klerk. We just wish and hope that his remains will be thrown in the sea, and of course, not in the African seas. We don’t care about de Klerk, the architecture of the so-called new constitution,” says Nyontsho.
