South Africa’s last president to hold office during apartheid died at the age of 85 after losing a battle with cancer, officials said Thursday.
Frederik Willem de Klerk, the man who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, died from mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer that destroys lining in the lungs. De Klerk created a final video and speech in which he apologized for the damages caused by apartheid. The video was released hours after his death.
“I, without qualification, apologize for the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage that apartheid has done to black, brown, and Indians in South Africa,” de Klerk said. “Allow me in this last message to share with you the fact that since the early 80s, my views changed completely. It was as if I had a conversion. And in my heart of hearts, I realized that apartheid was wrong. I realized that we had arrived at a place which was morally unjustifiable.”
SOUTH AFRICA FACES FOOD SHORTAGES AS RIOTING AND LOOTING ROCK COUNTRY
Mandela and de Klerk jointly won the Nobel prize in 1993 after eradicating segregation between black and white South Africans during apartheid. De Klerk was also responsible for the release of Mandela in 1993, who became the first black president of the country in 1994.
De Klerk’s role in apartheid has been controversial. De Klerk was blamed for the deaths of thousands of anti-apartheid protesters and black South Africans, while white citizens in favor of apartheid viewed his decision as a betrayal.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
No funeral date has been set, but information on the funeral arrangements will be announced “in due course,” de Klerk’s foundation told Reuters.
He is survived by his wife Elita and their two children.
