FW de Klerk Foundation retracts apartheid statement, apologises
The
FW de Klerk Foundation has withdrawn its statement that apartheid was not a
crime against humanity.
The foundation apologised for its statement, made the day after the State of the Nation Address, in which it labelled the notion that apartheid was a crime against humanity as "Soviet agitprop" – propaganda meant to agitate.
Earlier in the week, the former president also denied that apartheid was a crime against humanity in an interview with the SABC.
This led to the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) demanding that De Klerk leave the National Assembly ahead of the State of the Nation Address.
Both De Klerk and his foundation received furious backlash, including from the ANC and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation.
The FW de Klerk Foundation has also retracted a statement on the EFF, in which it warned the party against mobilising on the basis of race and "playing with fire”.
"It was a mistake and we apologise for that mistake. We will continue work with South Africans to build unity and reconciliation," says the foundation’s spokesperson Theuns Eloff.
A planned #DeKlerkMustFall protest was expected to take place on Wednesday outside the foundation's office in Cape Town.