Frederik Willem de Klerk

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Frederik Willem de Klerk (1990)

Frederik Willem de Klerk ( Afrikaans : / ˈfriə̯dərək ˈvələm dəˈklɛrk /; born March 18, 1936 in Johannesburg ) is a former South African politician. He was President of the Republic of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 . Together with Nelson Mandela , he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 .

life and work

Early years and education

De Klerk grew up in a very political family. His father Johannes "Jan" de Klerk was a senator and minister, his uncle JG Strijdom was South African prime minister. His brother Willem, a liberal journalist , was a co-founder of the Democratic Party , the predecessor party to the Democratic Alliance . Frederik de Klerk went to the Hoërskool Monument in Krugersdorp, where he acquired his Matric and then studied at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education . He graduated in 1958 with cum laude for Bachelor of Laws . As a result, he received an Abe Bailey Travel Fellowship that same year , which enabled him to stay in the UK. Then de Klerk worked from 1961 to 1972 as a lawyer in Vereeniging . Already during his studies he was interested in politics, where he was involved in the Afrikaanse Studentebond . During his time in Vereeniging, he became active for the National Party (NP). At the same time he was Chairman of the Law Society in Transvaal and a member of the Council of the College of Advanced Technical Education . In 1969 he married Marike Willemse in Pretoria, with whom he has two sons, Jan and Willem, and a daughter, Susan.

Political career

In 1969 he won a seat in the South African parliament for the first time. In 1978, de Klerk was appointed to the cabinet by Prime Minister Vorster . Also under Vorster's successor, Pieter Willem Botha , he held various ministerial posts from 1978 to 1989, most recently as Minister of the Interior (1982–1985) and Minister of Education (1984–1989). In 1982 he became provincial chairman of the ruling National Party (NP) in Transvaal.

After an attempt was made to reform the apartheid system in 1984 with the introduction of the three-chamber parliament by President Botha, the latter made Frederik Willem de Klerk chair the "Council of Ministers" ( Ministers' Council ) in the House of Assembly (" white “Chamber of Parliament) and the post of Minister of the Budget on the same body. At the same time he was responsible for the state level in the Botha II cabinet as Minister of Home Affairs and national education (German: "Minister for Internal Affairs and National Education"). On December 1, 1986, de Klerk took over the chairmanship of the House of Assembly . As a result of the parliamentary elections of 1987, he was able to continue his national parliamentary mandate for the constituency of Vereeniging.

In February 1989 he replaced Botha as party chairman, and in August also as president. In the parliamentary elections in September 1989, the NP entered with de Klerk as the top candidate; it was the last election under the programmatic style of apartheid . As a result of his assumption of office, the de Klerk cabinet was created .

The inauguration of the functioning of the South African President was followed on 20 September 1989. During this ceremony was a Mass held that the minister Pieter Bingle from the strictly Calvinist influenced Gereformeerde Kerk held that de Klerk himself belongs. The subject of the sermon dealt with a possible calling ( afrikaans : roeping ) of the members of this church through God, which should enable them to fulfill their duties. The clergyman used a passage from the book of Jeremiah and interpreted the inauguration of the state president in such a way that he was now standing in God's council room in order to experience the will of the Lord and that he should follow him and, as God's tool, de Klerk should follow his tradition People respect . Literally said Pieter Bingle: “New paths have to be found where roads end in dead ends or are no longer passable. [...] Those who get stuck in the wagon tracks of the past will find that they have dug their own grave. "

Although Frederik de Klerk was an advocate of apartheid until his election, he played a major role in its abolition. In a sensational parliamentary speech on February 2, 1990, he announced far-reaching reforms, which were also implemented in the following months: For example, he left the banned parties African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) as well as around 30 other organizations as political forces too. Frederik de Klerk was able to build on well-advanced negotiation results with Nelson Mandela , which with the approval of his predecessor Botha by the former head of the secret service Niel Barnard and the then Minister of Justice Kobie Coetsee were still in Pollsmoor prison. Nelson Mandela and other ANC leaders and about 120 other political prisoners have been released from prison. Restrictions on freedom of the press and the state of emergency have been lifted. Apartheid laws, such as the Separate Amenities Act , have been repealed or the passages affected by them have been amended .

De Klerk with Nelson Mandela at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1992

In May 1990, Frederik de Klerk held first talks with representatives of the African National Congress under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. In 1991 he opened the National Party to non-white members. In the same year he convened the Goldstone Commission to contain the increasing violence in South Africa.

In December 1991 the first of many rounds of negotiations took place between the government made up of the National Party , the ANC and other political organizations that were supposed to prepare the future of South Africa without apartheid. In the same year the economic sanctions of the states of the European Union , which had been decided in 1986, were lifted . Diplomatic relations with other countries have also been resumed. After the NP lost a by-election to parliament in 1992, de Klerk had a referendum held in which voters of European descent had to vote on his reform course. The result was clear approval. In 1993, de Klerk took for the first time as " Colored " designated as well as Indian-born politicians as equal members in his cabinet. In the same year Frederik Willem de Klerk received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Nelson Mandela .

In 1994 , the first truly free elections were held in South Africa, in which all sections of the population could exercise the right to vote , including the majority of black citizens who had previously had no right to vote . The African National Congress carried it an overwhelming election victory and FW de Klerk was replaced by Mandela in office. De Klerk was Vice President of the Mandela government alongside Thabo Mbeki . He held this position until 1996, when the new constitution was drawn up and his party broke out of government. In 1997 he gave up the leadership of the National Party and withdrew from politics.

After the resignation

Frederik Willem de Klerk (2012)

After his retreat, de Klerk was largely quiet. In October 1998 he shocked the country's conservative forces with his divorce from his wife Marike and the immediate wedding to Elita Georgiades. In December 2001, his ex-wife was killed in a robbery. In 2004 he resigned from the New National Party (NNP) after it became known that it wanted to be absorbed into the African National Congress . De Klerk is a member of the Club of Rome , Honorary Chairman of the Prague Society for International Cooperation and on the Advisory Board of the Global Panel Foundation .

In a speech on February 2, 2020, the 30th anniversary of his speech in 1990, de Klerk named several problems such as corruption and undermining the constitution and warned of a “completely wrong, highly dangerous path”. He also claimed that apartheid was not a crime against humanity , but that the Soviets and ANC shaped this view. After severe criticism, he withdrew the statement in the middle of the month.

Autobiography

  • Frederik Willem de Klerk: The Last Trek - A New Beginning. St. Martin's Press New York, New York 1998, ISBN 0-312-22310-2 .

Awards

literature

  • Willem de Klerk: Frederik Willem de Klerk - A hope for South Africa. Busse Seewald, Herford 1991, ISBN 3-512-03072-6 .
  • Bernhard Kupfer: Lexicon of Nobel Prize Winners. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2001.

Web links

Commons : Frederik Willem de Klerk  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics, Number 5 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1995, pp. 36-37, 41
  2. ↑ Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics, Number 5 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1995, p. 37
  3. ↑ Allister Sparks : Tomorrow is another land. South Africa's secret revolution . Berlin Verlag , 1995 Berlin, pp. 145-146 ISBN 3-8270-0151-X
  4. ↑ Frederik Willem de Klerk, Nelson Mandela Foundation : FW de Klerk's speech at the opening of Parliament 2 February 1990 . on www.nelsonmandela.org (English)
  5. ↑ Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics, Number 4 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1992, pp. 6-7
  6. ↑ World history: The betrayed dream at the Cape. Retrieved February 5, 2020 .
  7. ↑ South Africa: Ex-President de Klerk apologizes for downplaying apartheid. Der Spiegel from February 17, 2020, accessed on February 17, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Klerk, Frederik Willem de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician, President of South Africa (1989–1994)
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg