FW de Klerk, South Africa's last apartheid president, has died at 85 - CBS News
Besides Mandela there weren't many South Africans more influential in ending Apartheid than Klerk. Originally a pro-Apartheid president when he entered office in 1989, he saw what ethnic unrest and strife happening across South Africa, and decided that in order to prevent a race war he had to end the system that had been in place since 1948. This led him to free Mandela after a 27 years in prison along with legalizing anti apartheid parties and demonstrations which were previously suppressed heavily. Klerk's negotiations with Mandela eventually led to the abolition of many segregationist policies and the first universal election in South African history, which eventually led to the complete destruction of Apartheid after Mandela was elected. While he received a lot of criticism for his support of White minority rule, he is still regarded as a major leading in ending Apartheid in the nation and made the Rainbow Nation live up to its name.
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