[imagesource: AFP / Getty Images]

The last apartheid-era president of South Africa, FW de Klerk, has died at the age of 85.

He reportedly died at his home in Fresnaye, Cape Town, after struggling with cancer.

The FW de Klerk Foundation’s spokesperson Dave Steward confirmed his death to News24 today (November 11).

The foundation previously released a statement about his condition on June 8, saying that he was diagnosed in March 2o21 with mesothelioma, which is a type of “cancer that affects the lining of the lungs”.

He had been receiving immunotherapy for the illness but succumbed earlier today:

He is survived by his wife Elita (68), whom he married in November 1998, son Jan (57) and daughter Susan (52). His son Willem died of cancer in October 2020 at the age of 53. His former wife, Marike, whom he divorced in 1998, was murdered at the age of 64 in 2001.

De Klerk ran the country from September 1989 until May 1994, becoming one of the country’s two deputy presidents after the vote.

In a speech to South Africa’s parliament on February 2, 1990, he announced that the anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela would be released from prison after 27 years.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce the details of De Klerk’s funeral in due course.

[source:news24]