Activists Scupper U.S. Speech by Ex-South Africa Leader De Klerk

(Bloomberg) -- F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s last apartheid-era president, said he withdrew from an American Bar Association event after activists objected and made “baseless” allegations that he was party to human-rights violations.

Jonathan Granof, the president of the Global Security Institute, invited De Klerk to participate in a series of interviews with the bar association because of the role the former president played in abolishing white-minority rule in South Africa and his dismantling of the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

The Pan African Bar Association of South Africa opposed De Klerk’s appearance at the event, writing that he was unapologetic about the pain inflicted upon the nation’s Black majority, Cape Town-based website News24 reported. Another group objected to the invitation’s timing in the wake of U.S. protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, it said.

“Mr De Klerk does not have the slightest interest in participating in any event that will cause him or his hosts embarrassment,” his office said in a statement Monday.

Pabasa didn’t respond to an emailed response to a request for comment.

De Klerk held several cabinet posts during apartheid rule and pushed for racial segregation in universities during his tenure as education minister. After succeeding P.W. Botha as president in 1989, De Klerk removed bans on the African National Congress and other pro-democracy groups and released Nelson Mandela from prison. The two were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the role they played in the country’s transition to democracy.

De Klerk “had the courage to admit that a terrible wrong had been done to our country and people through the imposition of the system of apartheid,” Mandela said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Vocal Critic

After quitting politics in 1997, De Klerk went on the international speaking circuit and started a foundation that aims to uphold the rights enshrined in the nation’s constitution.

He has been a vocal critic of the South African government over the past few years, accusing it of failing to respect the rule of law. He drew criticism in February when he said that apartheid, which deprived Black citizens of the vote and other basic rights, wasn’t a crime against humanity. De Klerk, 84, later withdrew the statement.

“It appears unacceptable in the current super-heated racial climate that any leader from South Africa’s troubled past should be permitted to retain the slightest vestige of honor,” De Klerk’s office said.

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