South Africa pays tribute to former president Frederik Willem de Klerk
A state memorial service was held for South Africa’s former President Frederik Willem de Klerk after he died from lung cancer aged 85 last month.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was among high-profile guests who paid tribute to De Klerk at the memorial service at Groote Kerk church in Cape Town on Sunday.
De Klerk, who oversaw the country’s transition from apartheid and shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, ensured his place in history when on February 2, 1990, he announced Mandela’s release from 27 years in jail and lifted the ban on black liberation movements, effectively declaring the death of white-minority rule.
De Klerk was a controversial figure in South Africa as many blamed him for violence against Black South Africans and anti-apartheid activists during his time in power, while some white people saw his efforts to usher in a post-apartheid democracy as a betrayal.
