In 1990, De Klerk ordered Mandela's release after 27 years in prison.
Former South African president FW de Klerk delivers a speech to mark 20 years of democracy, on January 31, 2014 in Cape Town.JOHANNESBURG - The Nelson Mandela Foundation on Thursday mourned the death of FW de Klerk, the last president of segregated South Africa, calling his legacy"big" but"uneven".Three years later, they shared a Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the transition from white-minority apartheid rule.
"De Klerk’s legacy is a big one," the foundation said in a statement."It is also an uneven one, something South Africans are called to reckon with in this moment." When Mandela won the first all-race elections in 1994, de Klerk served as his deputy for three years.While De Klerk was hailed as a peacemaker in the 1990s, his reputation grew more complicated in recent years over his refusal to make a full accounting for the horrific violence that buttressed apartheid.
The two leaders sparred frequently, but the Mandela foundation recalled his remarks at De Klerk's 70th birthday celebrations. "If we two old, or ageing, men have any lessons for our country and for the world, it is that solutions to conflicts can only be found if adversaries are fundamentally prepared to accept the integrity of one other," Mandela said at the time.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
FW de Klerk, who handed SA's reins to Nelson Mandela, dies aged 85Former state president FW de Klerk died at his home in Cape Town on Thursday at the age of 85.
Read more »
FW de Klerk dies aged 85Former apartheid president FW de Klerk died at his home in Cape Town on Thursday at the age of 85.
Read more »
'If De Klerk gets a state funeral, we must disrupt it,' says Pearl ThusiActress Pearl Thusi says a state funeral for De Klerk would be 'a huge middle finger to the people who suffered under the apartheid regime'.
Read more »
Tributes pour in for FW de KlerkApartheid-era President de Klerk died on Thursday following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer.
Read more »
IN PICTURES: The life and times of FW de KlerkFormer apartheid-era President FW de Klerk has died at the age of 85.
Read more »
Modidima Mannya | Zille and De Klerk are two sides of the same coin | CitypressHelen Zille and FW de Klerk are two sides of the same coin when it comes to understanding how apartheid really affected millions of black people, writes Modidima Mannya.
Read more »