The former South African President FW de Klerk, the man who oversaw the dismantling of the apartheid regime and secured the release of Nelson Mandela, has died.
A statement from the foundation of the country’s last white leader said the 85-year-old died at his home in Cape Town on Thursday morning.
De Klerk was a divisive figure in South Africa; many people blamed him for violence against black South Africans and anti-apartheid activists, while some whites saw his efforts to end apartheid as a betrayal.
“Former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer,” the statement said.
De Klerk headed South Africa’s white minority government from 1989 until 1994, when Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress party came to power - marking the end of apartheid.
In 1990, De Klerk told South Africa’s parliament that Mandela would be released from prison after 27 years, sending shockwaves throughout the country.
He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela in 1993, but his role in the transition to democracy is highly contested more than 25 years after the end of apartheid.
The former head of state won praise for helping South Africa’s shift from white minority rule to non-racial constitutional democracy, and for being the only world leader to dismantle an existing nuclear arsenal.
However, De Klerk sparked controversy last year when he said he did not believe apartheid was a crime against humanity, as declared by the United Nations.
In retirement, he headed the FW de Klerk Foundation, devoted to working for peace in multi-cultural societies.
De Klerk was diagnosed in March with mesothelioma, a cancer that affects the tissue lining the lungs.
“He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren,” the foundation said, adding that the family would in due course make an announcement regarding funeral arrangements.
Additional reporting by AP and Reuters
