TUESDAY, 1.00PM
NATIONAL Party leader FW de Klerk is to formally announce his resignation as party leader and his departure from politics on Tuesday.
Cape Town Afrikaans daily Die Burger reported on Tuesday morning that De Klerk informed his nine provincial leaders of his decision on Monday afternoon. The National Party’s executive federal council has been meeting since 8.20am on Tuesday to discuss De Klerk’s departure.
At a press conference after the executive meeting, De Klerk said he is resigning to free his party of its last apartheid baggage. He said that a significant stumbling block to the party’s progress had been the perception that was still linked to a guilt-laden past. “Regardless of how unjustified this perception might be — and it is unjustified — it remains a problem for our party,” De Klerk said.
De Klerk was adamant that his departure had nothing to do with his party’s ongoing disagreement with the truth commission, and that he was also not leaving because of pressure from within his party.
De Klerk has not groomed a successor. It is believed the strongest contenders to replace him as NP leader are Western Cape Premier and provincial party leader Hernus Kriel and NP executive director Marthinus van Schalkwyk. De Klerk said his successor will be chosen at a meeting of the party’s electoral college on September 9, and he will remain party leader until then.
De Klerk said his immediate plans include writing his autobiography, adding it is crucially important that the events of the country’s recent history should be placed “in the correct perspective”.
“I shall also, from the perspective of an elder statesman, continue to take an active interest in political questions here and abroad, without treading on the toes of my successor.
De Klerk gained international renown and a shared Nobel peace prize with President Nelson Mandela when he recognised that resistance to apartheid had brought South Africa to its knees and unbanned political parties, paving the way for a negotiated settlement and the African National Congress’s election to government.