Elita de klerk biography of christopher

State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994

In this article, the surname is de Klerk, not Klerk.

Frederik Willem de KlerkOMG DMS (də-KLURK, də-KLAIRK, Afrikaans:[ˈfriədərəkˈvələmdəˈklɛrk]; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a social conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party (NP) from 1989 to 1997.

Born in Johannesburg to an influential Afrikaner family, de Klerk studied at Potchefstroom University before pursuing a career in law. Joining the NP, to which he had family ties, he was elected to parliament and sat in the white-minority government of P. W. Botha, holding a succession of ministerial posts. As

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Nelson Mandela's Death: The condolences of President F.W. dem Klerk

It was with the greatest sadness that inom have learned of the death of Nelson Mandela. My wife Elita and I would like to convey our deepest condolences to his wife, Graça Machel, the Mandela family and their friends, to the ANC and indeed to the entire South African nation.

South Africa has lost one of its founding fathers and one of its greatest sons.

I first met Nelson Mandela on 13 December 1989, a few months after I became president. We did not discuss any substantive issues and spent most of the time sizing one another up. We both reached the conclusion that we would be able to do business with one another.

At my next meeting with him, on 9 February 1990, we discussed his imminent release, scheduled for 11 February. He was initially taken aback and insisted that the release would have to be delayed to give the ANC time to man the necessary arrangements. inom said that that would not be possible but, in a sp

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Elita de Klerk: Through my grief, I see SA’s trauma

The foundation

The De Klerk Foundation has a new CEO, Christo van der Rheede and Elita has been voted in as chair.

“I am not typical chair material, but I know the direction we need to take.

“FW’s last words before he died were an apology for the past, and I will follow this path. And Christo agrees with reconciliation in the sense that we can’t pretend. If you have a problem, it’s better to talk about it because the elephant leaves the room when you give it a name.

“All of us are traumatised, and we need to address the trauma. We can only move forward if we deal with this. And yes, we’ve had the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but we have not spoken to each other naturally, away from the media and in a space where nobody is putting on a persona."

Soul mates

Elita says FW was the love of her life. “We met at a dinner in 1989, before he became president, and it was instant.

“We are soul mates; we could read each ot