Sobering images of FW de Klerk being transported from his home in Fresnaye, Cape Town, in a hearse have surfaced on social media, confirming once more that the last president of apartheid South Africa has passed away.
Watch: FW de Klerk transported in hearse
Reporters had gathered outside the 85-year-old’s residence on Thursday afternoon, hours after he took his last breath. In a statement, the FW de Klerk Foundation confirmed that the former leader of the National Party (NP) “died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer.”
These videos show the former president’s body being transported away from his home.
When the white viano drove into FW De Klerk's home. @Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/rlWQVB9Jay
— Athi Mtongana (@Artii_M) November 11, 2021
Social media reacts to death of former apartheid leader
Suffice it to say, reactions to the death of De Klerk have been polarising. Despite the fact that the 85-year-old played a role in dismantling the apartheid state he led between 1989 and 1994, many South Africans have never forgiven him for his culpability in the oppression brought on by the NP.
Here are some of the reactions to the news of De Klerk’s passing, including a controversial tweet from EFF leader Julius Malema many interpreted as a celebration.
The family of the murdered Cradock 4 activists fought for years to get answers – under oath – from FW de Klerk about the apartheid State Security Council's instruction that the men be "permanently removed from society"
— Karyn Maughan (@karynmaughan) November 11, 2021
De Klerk sat on the Council
They never got their answers https://t.co/tsCu5PFJaz
RIP FW de Klerk. The South African leader who freed Nelson Mandela and subsequently shared the Nobel Peace Prize with him. He was 85 pic.twitter.com/uAkcDsfH4P
— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) November 11, 2021
Mzwanele Nyhotso from PAC asked to respond to FW De Klerk dying on SABC News. “We don’t care about De Klerk, we care about his victims” he says if it was up to him, De Klerk would be thrown in the sea, just not an African sea.
— Nzinga Qunta (@NzingaQ) November 11, 2021
The mass murderer FW de Klerk is dead! May he burn in hell eternally! pic.twitter.com/i4gMEdDwwK
— ANDILE MNGXITAMA (@Mngxitama2) November 11, 2021
The apartheid sponsored media of South Africa, including the one that black young people supposedly own (405), is spreading fake news by referring to him as a former president; he is a former apartheid President; stop misleading the kids. Fake fake fake
— Julius Sello Malema (@Julius_S_Malema) November 11, 2021
