After the death of Frederik de Klerk, South Africans divided over his record
Former President Frederik de Klerk has an uneven record for many South Africans.
© GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Former President Frederik de Klerk has died at the age of 85 from cancer.
On news of his death, South Africans insist on his role in the apartheid regime.
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We should not expect tears on the faces of these young people in the student district of Braamfontein in Johannesburg, notes our correspondent,
Romain Chanson
.
They are in their early twenties, haven't experienced apartheid, and have nothing good to say about
Frederik de Klerk
.
“
I have mixed feelings, but none include sadness.
He was the spearhead of the oppressive system
, ”explains a young South African.
"
I cannot have sympathy for people who have oppressed the population for so long
," insists another young person.
And his passing just makes me realize that he hasn't answered for all of his crimes.
"
"
He made the choice to lead a ruthless and racist party
"
His role in the democratic transition arouses the indifference of Justin, bookseller: “
At the time, the government realized that change was inevitable.
So they led the transition on their own terms.
I know that today, in retrospect, there is a lot of anger vis-à-vis Nelson Mandela, accused of having sold off black South Africa.
"
Before being the president of the democratic transition, Frederik de Klerk served the apartheid regime for a long time as a parliamentarian, several times ministers and president of the National Party. So when he hears about him, 22-year-old Obongo can't help but think of his parents: “
You can feel the terror they endured. You hold onto their pain and all that they have lost since they have lost loved ones in the struggle.
"
Frederik de Klerk says he realized that apartheid was wrong from the start of the 1980s. However, South Africans like Yvonne, doubt his sincerity: "
What would have been his position if there had not been? enormous internal and international pressure for South Africa to transform into a democracy?
He made the choice to lead a ruthless and racist party.
"
In a posthumous message,
Frederick de Klerk asks for
unconditional
forgiveness
for the apartheid regime.
Karabo is one of those willing to accept his apologies: “
We are all human.
And we make mistakes and I think it was very courageous to reconcile at a time when Africans and whites were clashing.
"
An “
important and unequal”
heritage
"
The courage to deviate from the path traced by his party
" is also what President Cyril Ramaphosa retained by paying tribute to his distant predecessor.
He recalls that in December 1989, the year he became president, Frederik de Klerk received Nelson Mandela, then still a political prisoner.
“
The time for negotiations has come,
” he declared in Parliament less than two months later.
The highly respected Archbishop Desmond Tutu salutes "
the courage
" of the former South African president.
For this figure of the struggle against apartheid, Frederik de Klerk "
knew how to recognize the moment of change and act
".
When he came to power, international sanctions intensified, and internal protest grew.
► To read also: Death of Frederik de Klerk, the man of the transition to a democratic South Africa
A “
historic, but difficult
” space, adds Desmond Tutu. The last president of a minority government, Frederik de Klerk ceded power in 1994 to an extremely popular president Nelson Mandela with whom he jointly received a Nobel. Desmond Tutu, who headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, recalls his disappointment at the absence at the time of an apology from the former president for the suffering inflicted by the regime he embodied. Frederik De Klerk, an “
important and unequal”
heritage
to use the words of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Julius Malema, the leader of the Party of Fighters for Economic Freedom, "
thank God
" for taking this soul back while John Steehuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance congratulates the work of Frederik de Klerk through his foundation created in 1999 for more democracy and constitutionalism.
Koffi Kaoukou looks back on the disappearance of Frederik de Klerk
Guillaume Thibault
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