He led South Africa between September 1989 and May 1994. In 1990 he announced the release of Nelson Mandela, with whom he shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
Frederik Willem de Klerk, former president of South Africa and the last white man to lead the country, died. He was 85 years old. A spokesperson said de Klerk, who was a key figure in South Africa’s transition to democracy, was diagnosed with cancer this year. De Klerk led South Africa between 1989 and May 1994. In 1990 he announced the release of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, thus paving the way for the first multi-party elections in 1994. With Mandela he shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
De Klerk succeeded Botha at the helm of the National Party in February 1989. As the country’s isolation deepened and its once solid economy deteriorated, de Klerk, elected president just five months earlier, in a speech to parliament announced the lifting of the ban on the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid political groups. Several MPs left the courtroom in protest as he spoke. Nine days later, Mandela was free, and four years later he was elected as the country’s first black president, when the black population first voted. The two politicians were awarded the Nobel Prize for their collaboration in removing institutional racism and promoting democracy. After the 1994 multi-party elections and Nelson Mandela’s election to the presidency, de Klerk became its deputy until 1996. He retired from active politics in 1997.