De Klerk's state memorial service recognizes his contribution, while admitting 'contested' legacy

CAPE TOWN - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday recognized the important role of last apartheid president Frederik Willem (FW) de Klerk in the nation's democratic transition while admitting that the former president's legacy remains "contested" during his state memorial service.

The South African government remembered de Klerk for his former post as a deputy president, the position he served after South Africa's first non-racial elections in 1994, at Groote Kerk church close to the parliament in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, where political leaders, de Klerk's family and foundation members and officials were present.

Ramaphosa in his eulogy for de Klerk praised his courage and conviction that largely leads to negotiation and reconciliation, instead of conflict and recrimination, after de Klerk's death on Nov 11 after battling against mesothelioma cancer triggered a heated discussion about his contribution to ending the apartheid system, his past comments defending the apartheid, his role as the head of the apartheid government, including both praise and criticism.

De Klerk took a "brave act" to unban political parties and release political prisoners including Nelson Mandela, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk and later became South Africa's first black president, said Ramaphosa.

In taking such a "bold step", de Klerk went against many in his own party, many white South Africans, elements in his own state security apparatus and "diehards" who were prepared to take up arms to preserve the status quo, at a "key moment" that the country was faced with a stark choice between a negotiated settlement and a protracted civil war, said the president.

He also said under his leadership, white South Africans came to accept the inevitability of change and he embarked on negotiations with the liberation movements and "was brave enough to see them through to their ultimate conclusion."

The president however said people can neither ignore nor seek to dismiss, "the anger, the pain and the disappointment of those who recall the place FW de Klerk occupied in the hierarchy of an oppressive state."

He further said South Africans must never forget the injustices of the past and atrocities committed by the apartheid authorities.

When de Klerk's wife Elita took the floor, participants gave her a round of applaud. She recalled her first meeting with de Klerk in 1989 when the latter was about to start changing the status quo.

"I shall never forget this man who mesmerized me, who made me want to help him to achieve this huge task ahead of him," said Elita.

"FW was a man of strong belief and great values, and extremely correct. This correctness sometimes turned to his detriment," she said.

"He was often misunderstood due to this over-correctness."

FW de Klerk Foundation Chairman Dave Steward commended de Klerk as an exceptional leader who navigated social-economic tides on a par with Mandela.

De Klerk will be primarily remembered for four achievements, including initiating the constitutional transformation and co-managing the process, dismantling the system of apartheid, abolishing nuclear weapon capability, and committing to constitutional democracy, according to him.

South African National Defence Force (SANDF)'s army chief Lawrence Khulekani Mbatha handed over the national flag to commander-in-chief Ramaphosa, who then presented it to Elita, just in front of de Klerk's portrait.

De Klerk repeated his apology in his last message in a video clip for the hurt that apartheid has done to black, colored and Indian people in the country. He said he realized that apartheid was wrong since the 1980s.

According to the official funeral policy manual issued by the presidency, de Klerk, who died at the age of 85 at his home in Cape Town, was entitled to a state funeral, nevertheless, private cremation and funeral for family members took place on Nov 21.

Ramaphosa directed the National Flag was flown at half-mast as a sign of national mourning for four days until the evening of his funeral.

Born in 1936 in Johannesburg, de Klerk, the son of a cabinet minister, held various cabinet positions in the apartheid government before being chosen as the national leader of the then ruling National Party (NP) in 1989 and inaugurated as State President later that year.

During his presidency from September 1989 to May 1994 initiated and presided over the inclusive negotiations that led to the dismantling of apartheid established in 1948 and the adoption of South Africa's first fully democratic constitution in December 1993.

He was the leader of the Official Opposition until his retirement from active party politics in 1997.