Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa said that while the country’s last apartheid-era president played a critical role in the transition to democracy, the anger of those critical of FW de Klerk’s legacy must never be dismissed.
The president paid tribute to de Klerk on Sunday during a State Memorial Service in Cape Town’s historic Groote Kerk.
De Klerk served as deputy president to Nelson Mandela in the Government of National Unity.
He died in November with many accusing him of never fully owning up to the horrors of the apartheid regime.
Delivering the eulogy, Ramaphosa hailed the late apartheid president for his bravery.
He, however, acknowledged the lasting sense of injustice felt by many South Africans.
“We can never forget the lives that were lost, the families that were torn apart, the land that was taken. We can never forget the humiliation of an entire people nor must we ever forget the responsibility that we each bear to consign such suffering and injustice to the past,” said Ramaphosa.
Some protesters who gathered outside the church called the state memorial a painful reminder.
