Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former president FW de Klerk was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Sunday and will be cremated.
He died in his Fresnaye home in Cape Town on November 11. He had been earlier this year diagnosed with mesothelioma – “a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs”, the FW de Klerk Foundation said on its website.
He was receiving immunotherapy for the illness.
De Klerk is survived by his wife, Elita, children, Susan and Jan, and his grandchildren.
The police were outside his home after fears that the funeral could be disrupted.
On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared four days of national mourning for the country’s former president. The four days of mourning started at sunset on November 17.
According to his foundation, De Klerk’s actions and speech marked the official end of segregation policies and the official start of the negotiations that led to a constitutional democracy with equal rights for all South Africans.
He was president from September 1989 until May 1994, and joined Mandela’s government of national unity as one of two deputy presidents after the April 1994 democratic elections.
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