I' E 0 f' L E WHO NFL U ENe E D THE W 0 R L D

F.W. de Klerk 1936 ­

End of apartheid

rederik Willem de Klerk was the politi­

cian-statesman of South Africa who sacri­

ficed his own power to set in motion a chain

of events that dismantled the edifice of

apartheid and founded a multiracial democ­

racy. Comparable to Mikhail Gorbachev of the former

Soviet Union, de Klerk pulled the rug from under his own

feet for the sake of South Africa's future. Booed by cham­

pions of apartheid as suicidal, de Klerk's course ultimate­

ly emancipated the enslaved black population and earned

him a special niche in history as the liberal who defied his

racist support base.

'Politics was in my blood', de Klerk declared in his auto­

biography. He was born in Johannesburg into a family

closely involved in the origins of Afrikaner (Dutch settler)

nationalism and its struggle for freedom from the British

Empire. His grandfather was a founding member of the

National Party that endeavoured to make South Africa a

republic free from the British crown. His mentor and role

model father was cabinet minister thrice in National Party

governments and President of the Senate.

de Klerk had a very unsettled childhood due to the fre­

quent career swings of his father, a poor schoolteacher in

Transvaal region who rose in prominence into a top politi­111t

co. In his early days, de Klerk literally counted his pennies

and picked and sold fruit for pocket money. His mother

tutored the importance of being considerate to the less

privileged, a lesson he extended to black children who

were playmates on his farmland.

de KJerk was a frail boy often attacked by illness. At an

aJl-Afrikaner boarding school, he negotiated with teachers

the postponement of tests and other concessions on behalf

of the rest of his classmates. He mobilised friends to join

the youth wing of the National Party, following the family

tradition. de Klerk approved of apartheid as a youth.

Afrikaners were afraid of being swamped by the vast

black majority if the controlling instrument of apartheid

was removed. 'We were products of our times and cir­

cumstances', he reminisced later. At the age of thirteen, he

contributed to his father's first election campaign for the

Provincial Council.

Since an impressionable age, de Klerk wanted to be a

lawyer' As a brave defender of the truth.' He attended the

conservative Potchefstroom University for an L.L.B

degree. At college, he felt unease at the slow progress in

self-government for South Africa's blacks, but stuck to the

National party line that the African National Congress

(ANC) and other revolutionaries were 'Terrorists.'

I () I' I. E W II 0 NFL U ENe E D THE W 0 R L D

End of apartheid

He married co-student Marike and went on to set up a

thriving corporate law finn in Vereeneging in 1959. Over

the next twelve years, de Klerk cultivated local political

contact networks that came in handy when he stood for

parliament from the same town. His diligent efforts for

promoting Afrikaner language and culture paved the way

to election as an MP in 1972.

As MP, de Klerk was the National Party's spokesman on

labour m,ltters. Labelled 'Young Turk', he backed recogni­

tion of black trade unions. Tn 1978, he was made minister

of telecommunications and welfare, heralding an 11 year

stint as cabinet member. de Klerk served tenures as minis­

ter for sports, home affairs, minerals and education, win­

ning a reputation for reformism and taking on entrenched

interests. One measure he got legislated against strident

white antagonism was increasing expenditure on black

cd ucation. His role as peacemaker and bridge-bu i1der

between rival National Party factions in the early eighties

attracted national media attention. A liberal who barely

hid contempt for his hawkish boss, President P.W. Botha,

elL' Klcrk vowed quietly to himself 'That I would change

his dict<ltorial style if I ever became President.'

Minister de Klerk was troubled by conscience at the

injustices being heaped on blacks and Indians by the

I'retoria regime of which he was part. Yet, he dutifully

toed till' official stand that ANC had to forsake violence to

deserve negotiation. He was not privy to the 'Total

Onslaught' of Botha that committed grave crimes against

humanity (including alleged chemical and biological war­

farL' on poor blacks). de Klerk's basic Christian belief was

that governments must uphold human rights and justice.

EiL'cted President in 1989, de Klerk norma Iised the man­

d,lte of security forces that had gone berserk under Botha.

lie ar'"'lnged a secret meeting with the jailed leader,

Nelson Mandela, and struck a famous equation with him. 11G

Preuiolls pl7ge: Fredcrik Willel/l de Klerk WI7S the 1,0Iiticil1l1-stl7tesli/1711 of SOllth Africn who dis I/lI7 II tied the edifice

of I7pl7rtheid I7l1d fiHII/ded 17 IIl11ltiracil7l delilOcracy. Opposite: III 1993, de Klerk rel7ched 1711 epic I7greell/el1t ,uith tlle ANC fill' trallsitioll to IIl17jority rule, all aclliel1clI/cllt thnt

Il7l1ded I/il/l alld Malldell7 the Nohel Peace Prize.

Mandela and a host of other resistance fighters were

released in succession and the A C ban was removed. In

1991, de Klerk passed legislation that repealed racially dis­

criminatory laws affecting residence, education, public

amenities, and health care. Realising the value of consen­

sus within the ruling class for far-reaching relaxations, he

won a referendum from white South Africans in 1992 to

continue liberalising.

In 1993, de Klerk reached an epic agreement with the

A C for transition to majority rule, an achievement that

landed him and Mandela the Nobel Peace Prize. He had

proved his favourite maxim that 'Even the most

intractable problems can be resolved through compro­

mise, negotiations and goodwill.' In 1994, de Klerk joined

Nelson Mandela's historic Government of National Unity

as Deputy President and oversaw a smooth transition to

democracy.

After quitting office in 1996 and heading the opposition

for a year, de Klerk retired from politics in 1997. He

appealed for the replacement of race oriented with value

oriented politics. His greatest regret was failure to secure a

'Power sharing model' during the negotiations with ANC,

which in his opinion could have prevented majoritarian

policies that marginalised significant minorities.

In retrospect, de KJerk was accused of making virtue out

of necessity by critics who thought that the new internal

and international environments rendered apartheid

unsustainable in the early nineties. However, his pragma­

tism, patience and tolerance had a crucial influence on

crafting the endgame of minority rule. He read the writing

on the wall and took corrective steps before disaster came

in the form of civil war or economic collapse. An open

mind who never shielded himself from new truths, de

Klerk was, in Mandela's words, 'too honest' a human

bei ng to forsa ke principles.