Ex-South Africa president FW de Klerk, who freed Mandela, has died aged 85
FW de Klerk was the last president of segregated South Africa and he was the one who decided to release Nelson Mandela, the apartheid revolutionary and first Black head of state.
The last white South African president Frederik Willem (FW) de Klerk died on Thursday morning at his home in Cape Town, the FW de Klerk Foundation said in a statement. He was 85 years old.
"Former President FW de Klerk died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer," the statement said.
He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan and his grandchildren, the foundation added.
FW de Klerk was the last president of segregated South Africa, and Nelson Mandela, the apartheid revolutionary, was freed during his regime. Following Mandela's release, the two politicians worked together to bring an end to the policy of racial segregation.
Mandela went on to become the first Black head of state in South Africa.
De Klerk was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his “work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.”
