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The last president of Apartheid South Africa, FW de Klerk, has died

  • File image: De Klerk was the last Apartheid era president and is credited for taking crucial steps that led to the eventual democratic transformation of South Africa.
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  • South Africa's former president Willem de Klerk arrives at news conference ahead of the 13th World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Warsaw
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Former President Frederick Willem de Klerk, the last apartheid-era president and former deputy president in the democratic dispensation, has passed away at the age of 85. The former President served as State President from 1989 to 1994 and as Deputy President from 1994 to 1996.

The FW de Klerk Foundation announced that the former President died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier on Thursday morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer.

In March this year it was confirmed that he had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a form of cancer that affects the tissue that lines the lungs.

The foundation says that the family will, in due course, make an announcement regarding funeral arrangements.

He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren.

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