FW de Klerk, who was also a key figure in the nation's transition to democracy, had been diagnosed with cancer this year, a spokesman said. Mr de Klerk was head of state between September 1989 and May 1994. In 1990 he announced he was releasing anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, leading to multi-party polls in 1994. A statement from the former president's FW de Klerk Foundation on Thursday morning read: "Former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye (Cape Town) earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer." The foundation had announced the diagnosis - a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs - in June this year.
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FW de Klerk had taken over from PW Botha as the head of the National Party in February 1989 and the following year announced he was removing the ban on parties that included Mr Mandela's African National Congress (ANC). His actions helped bring an end to apartheid-era South Africa, and he became one of the two deputy presidents after the multi-party elections in 1994 that saw Mr Mandela become president.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce details of De Klerk's state funeral in due course. In a statement on 8 June 2021, the foundation said he was diagnosed with mesothelioma - "a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs" - in March 2021. He was receiving immunotherapy for the illness. De Klerk was the head of state from September 1989 until May 1994 and became one of the country's two deputy presidents after the first multi-racial, democratic election in April 1994.
The son of a National Party senator and minister, De Klerk entered Parliament in 1972 after training as a lawyer and winning his seat in Vereeniging, in what was then known as Southern Transvaal. He was appointed to the Cabinet of prime minister John Vorster in 1978 and served in various portfolios, including Minister of National Education. De Klerk was also a member of the Broederbond, the secretive Afrikaner organisation then active in politics and society.
