FW de Klerk, former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. (Year unknown)
Media24
Former apartheid president FW de Klerk has died at age 85.
The FW de Klerk Foundation's spokesperson Dave Steward confirmed his death to News24 on Thursday. "The former president died earlier this morning at his home in Fresnaye after his struggle against cancer. He was 85-years-old. He is survived by his wife Elita, two children Susan and Jan, and his grandchildren."
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.
Here is a look back at his life in pictures.
The Codesa negotiations in Kempton Park on 20 December 1991. Pik Botha (right), with former pres. FW de Klerk and dr. Gerrit Viljoen. At the back from the left is dr. Leon Wessels, Barend du Plessis and Cobie Coetsee. Photo: Archive
Mangosuthu Buthelezi (left), leader of the IFP, FW de Klerk, then state president, and Nelson Mandela, first democratically elected president of South Africa.
4 May 1990. The historic Groote Schuur Minute was the signing of a document between Nelson Mandela, then president of the ANC and the South African State President F.W. de Klerk at Tuinhuis.
FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela after the signing of the Groote Schuur Minute in 1990. Photo: Gallo Images
Date Unknown: Former President Nelson Mandela (R) with Former President FW de Klerk (L). (Photo by Gallo Images/Media24 Archives)
2 February 1990. Cape Town, South Africa. South African president and political leader, FW de Klerk surrounded by the press at the international press conference where De Klerk announced the release from prison of Nelson Mandela.
FW de Klerk and Leon Wessels at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in August 1996. (Gallo Images)
Former President FW de Klerk at the first parliamentary opening in the new South Africa.
10 December 2002. Jacob Zuma pictured with Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk at a presentation of National awards at the Union Buildings.
UNDATED: FW de Klerk during a sports event in South Africa.
FW de Klerk at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images)
2015: FW de Klerk and his wife Elita Georgiades with the City of Cape Town's mayor, Patricia de Lille at the renaming of Table Bay Boulevard.
2013: Thabo Mbeki and FW De Klerk with Springboks players during the Castle Rugby Championship match between South Africa and Argentina at FNB Stadium on August 17, 2013 in Soweto, South Africa.
Former president FW de Klerk at a social gathering in Cape Town with the late casino boss Sol Kerzner and former Naspers chairperson Ton Vosloo. (Anet Pienaar-Vosloo)
Former president FW de Klerk, his wife Elita and fashion designer Errol Arendz. (Anet Pienaar-Vosloo)
2021: In one of his last photographs taken in June 2021, former president FW de Klerk and his wife Elita are seen with their friends Ton Vosloo and Anet Pienaar-Vosloo in Hermanus.
