South Africa's last white president, Frederik de Klerk, who freed anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with him, died Thursday, November 11 at age 85, his founding announced .
"It is with the greatest sadness that the FW de Klerk Foundation announces the passing of former President FW de Klerk peacefully at his home in Fresnaye this morning after battling cancer," the organization said in a statement. .
Klerk's "FW", who suffered from mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, died at his home in his hometown of Cape Town, she said.
We owe to this former deputy and minister, member of the National Party, the reforms which put an end to apartheid in 1991, in connection with the African National Congress of Nelson Mandela.
Frederik de Klerk was Nelson Mandela's vice-president from 1994 to 1996 before joining the ranks of the opposition.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Nelson Mandela.
With AFP and Reuters
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