Foundation of FW de Klerk denies reports on his health
The foundation of South Africa's last apartheid-era president, FW de Klerk, has denied reports that his health is “rapidly deteriorating” after he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The foundation of FW de Klerk, South Africa s last apartheid president and a Nobel laureate, denied media reports Tuesday that his health was "rapidly deteriorating" after he was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.
De Klerk announced on his 85th birthday in March that he was suffering from mesothelioma, a cancer that affects the tissue that lines the lungs.
Reports in South Africa said de Klerk had been hospitalized after his condition worsened but the FW de Klerk Foundation responded by saying there had been “no discernible deterioration in his health since he was diagnosed in March."
“There have been extensive media reports that Mr. de Klerk’s health ‘is rapidly deteriorating.' This is not so,” the foundation said.
“He is now considering the continuation of the course of immunotherapy that he has been following for the past two months."
It added de Klerk had attended a meeting of his foundation board on Monday and still works at his offices three or four times a week.
“He and his wife, Elita, hope to travel to Greece for a holiday as soon as COVID regulations permit,” the foundation said.
De Klerk was the last president of the country’s white-minority government, which imposed the apartheid policy of racial segregation in South Africa. He was president from 1989-1994 and a central figure in the country's eventual move to democracy.
In 1990, he announced that Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders would be released from prison and anti-apartheid movements like Mandela's African National Congress would be unbanned.
Mandela was later elected South Africa's first Black president in all-race elections in 1994. De Klerk served as one of his deputy presidents from 1994-96.
In 1993, de Klerk and Mandela were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in ending apartheid.
But de Klerk has remained a divisive figure in South Africa, with many believing he never properly took responsibility for the atrocities of apartheid.
Last year, a meeting of the South African parliament for President Cyril Ramaphosa s State of the Nation address was disrupted when opposition politicians protested de Klerk's presence in the room.
It followed comments de Klerk had made in a newspaper that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, despite a declaration that it was by the United Nations. He later backtracked on this statement.