FILE PHOTO: FW de Klerk at the FW de Klerk Foundation conference at the Radisson Blu Hotel in the Waterfront in Cape Town on January 31, 2020. PICTURE: Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
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0 CAPE TOWN: Mr Frederik Willem de Klerk, also known as F.W. de Klerk, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in March 2021.
Mr De Klerk served as president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994, ruling over the last years of apartheid which was declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations. In 1990, he released the later former democratic president, Mr Nelson Mandela from jail. Together, they negotiated to move from the white-minority rule to universal suffrage.
According to a statement from his foundation at the time, Mr de Klerk began undergoing immunotherapy treatment in late March 2021. The statement read there is no immediate threat to de Klerk’s health and the foundation hopes treatment proves successful.
His illness was announced during his 85th birthday celebration on March 18, 2021. However, according to South African Broadcasting Services, his condition is rapidly deteriorating according to family members. Mr de Klerk is at an advanced stage of cancer. The rare cancer is caused by asbestos exposure.
It can take 10 – 50 years after exposure for symptoms of mesothelioma to present. At this time, it has not been publicly announced how Mr de Klerk may have been exposed to asbestos.
This what South Africans thinks about his sudden hospitalization due to his deteriorating health.
Responding to SABC newsreader, twitter users said the following after news that Mr de Klerk has been hospitalised.
Another Twitter user had this to say about the former president of South Africa.
One Twitter user had a hilarious response to the Mdhluli’s tweet when he said he wished cancer the best of luck.
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