Former president F W de Klerk, who was officially entitled to a state funeral, will instead be cremated at a private funeral ceremony on Sunday.
In terms of government regulations, a president, president-elect and former presidents are entitled to a state funeral.
However, the FW de Klerk Foundation has announced that ‘FW de Klerk’s cremation and funeral will take place on Sunday, November 21. It will be a private ceremony for family members and will not be open to media.’
The Nelson Mandela Foundation said that De Klerk’s legacy was ‘a big one’, adding: ‘It is also an uneven one, something South Africans are called to reckon with in this moment.’
The Foundation said De Klerk ‘will forever be linked to Nelson Mandela in the annals of SA history’, and that ‘(over) the years we worked productively with him and the De Klerk Foundation on a number of projects’.”
De Klerk died at his home in Cape Town on Thursday. He was 85.
He is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan, and his grandchildren.
[Photo: Nobel Peace Prize]