A POST-mortem would be performed on Wednesday morning to determine the cause of Marike de Klerk’s death. The former wife of former South African president FW de Klerk was found dead in her house in Dolphin Beach, Blaauwberg, on the Cape West Coast around 4pm on Tuesday. Her hairdresser, with whom she had an appointment, called security guards at the complex when there was no answer at Mrs De Klerk’s house. The police were called in and Mrs De Klerk’s body was discovered. Meanwhile, tributes continued to pour in from across the political spectrum with Afrikaner Eenheidsbeweging leader Cassie Aucamp saying: ”We commemorate the time which she has served South Africa with pride as first lady, as well as the dignified way in which she experienced the handing over of the presidency, together with everything attached to it.” On Tuesday night President Thabo Mbeki’s spokesman Bheki Khumalo said the president and his family learnt with ”great shock of the untimely death of Marike de Klerk.” ”She will be remembered by South Africans as a strong, charming and dignified woman.” ANC Women’s League president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said through her spokesman Alan Reynolds: ”As a woman, I can identify with the exhaustion of her emotional resources in shaping her former husband’s career.” – Sapa
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