(Cape Town) South Africa on Sunday paid an official tribute to its last white president who died last month at the age of 85, Frederik de Klerk, liberator of the icon Nelson Mandela in the eyes of the world but a politician inseparable from the crimes of apartheid in his country.
A dark assembly of some 200 people gathered on Sunday morning in Cape Town in the Protestant Groote Kerk Church, one of the oldest in the country. In the choir decorated with white flowers, no coffin but a portrait between two candles of the former head of state, who died of cancer on November 11 in his house in the suburbs of Cape Town. The family had organized a private funeral in the days following his death.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Frederik de Klerk’s widow Elita Georgiadis sat side by side just before the national anthem played by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra rang in the nave. Family, relatives as well as local political representatives but only a few members of the government were present.
Heavy pearls in the ears and around the neck, the widow of the former president gently evoked in the pulpit a man “often misunderstood because of his excess of correction” but who made him want “to help him accomplish this enormous task which awaited him ”.
PHOTO RODGER BOSCH, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
President Cyril Ramaphosa (L) hands over the South African flag to Frederik de Klerk’s widow, Elita Georgiades.
In February 1990, in an unexpected speech in Parliament, FW de Klerk announced the release of the number one enemy of the white regime, Nelson Mandela, the legalization of the African National Congress (ANC) and other parties fighting the segregationist system.
“An act of bravery,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in his eulogy, clearing his throat before uttering a few words in Afrikaans, the language of the descendants of the first settlers derived from Dutch.
A pure product of the National Party which set up the apartheid system from 1948, Frederik de Klerk felt the need for change: he announced the end of the regime of white domination. The first democratic elections were held in 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected the first black South African president.
A year earlier, the two men who had understood that they could “work together” shared a Nobel for “the miracle” of democratic transition. South Africa, under the influence of international sanctions at the time of the racist regime, becomes frequentable again.
PHOTO GERARD JULIEN, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk received their Nobel Prize in December 1993.
” Against his team ”
Before the start of the ceremony, a small group of demonstrators clad with “Justice Denied” signs, “Justice for the victims of apartheid”, were quickly evacuated by the police.
The death of the former president had sparked mixed reactions in the country. Public statements in recent years had tarnished his image with some South Africans, who had already criticized him for never having issued an official apology for the apartheid crimes and for having maneuvered to drop the charges.
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had greeted him a man who “changed the course of history”.
Mr. de Klerk had in particular sparked a heated controversy in 2020, by denying that apartheid was a crime against humanity, before apologizing. In the days following his disappearance, activists slaughtered a sheep to “celebrate” his death.
A posthumous video message broadcast by his foundation a few hours after his death and in which he regrets “the pain, suffering, indignity and damage” of apartheid was not enough.
Families of victims of crimes whose circumstances have never been clarified hoped that the last apartheid president would provide answers. Their questions now remain unanswered.
“Ramaphosa has time for the murderers, but not for the victims of apartheid,” Cassiem Khan told reporters, who protested outside the church.
Calling never to forget the injustices of the past, Cyril Ramaphosa, who solemnly offered a South African flag to the widow of FW de Klerk at the end of the ceremony, recalled the “crucial role” of this former president who participated in liberating South Africa by going “against its own camp”.